Women Are Better Liars
by marialisa
Summary: The daughter of Danny's ex girlfriend is kidnapped and his life is turned upside down.
1. Prologue

_The idea for this story came after I watched episode 1.06 - Silent Partner. The comment made by Danny that women are better liars set off a train of thought and here is the result!_

_I'll try and post updates regularly._

_Disclaimer: I dont own WAT or the WAT characters._

_Reviews: Always welcome!_

**Late October 2002 – San Diego, California**

Danny and Martin ate in companionable silence. They had been hard at work all day chasing down leads in the Patrick Kent case and neither had eaten since breakfast; when they had driven past the diner 20 minutes ago Martin had decided enough was enough and pulled in; he hadn't heard any complaint from Danny.

Danny sat back and took a drink of his water, his mind replaying the events of the day...a memory pushed it's way to the front of his mind and a slow smile spread across his face, no way he was going to let Martin get away without some explanation of _that_ comment….

'Sooo…. Fitzy,….. you often date two women at once?'

Martin looked up from his food and groaned inwardly; they had been talking outside Amalia Kent's apartment earlier that day just after discovering that Patrick Kent had two wives...he had known as soon as the words left his mouth he shouldn't have said anything. Danny had let it go then but he had known he wouldn't forget...

_Flashback to that afternoon_

'_Imagine that. Keeping two wives in the dark for that long' Danny sounded impressed_

_Martin laughed 'I know. I can't date two women for a month without blowing my cover'_

_Danny pulled a face 'There are lots of women that can' he sounded faintly bitter._

_Martin smiled in wry acknowledgement and climbed into the car as Danny continued 'Women are better liars than men. I mean, it's proven'_

_End of flashback_

'No, like I said, my cover is inevitably blown and then the crap hits the fan….' Martin pulled a face and Danny laughed.

'Come on then Fitz, let's have some details….'

Martin decided that attack was the best form of defence...

'Never mind me; you sounded like you have some personal experience in the area'

The laughter faded from Danny's face. He stared down at his plate

_Flashback to late July 2002_

_The voice at the end of the phone sounded muffled as if someone was making a crude attempt to disguise it._

'_I think you should know that your bitch of a girlfriend is screwing her ex boyfriend behind your back and it's been going on for a couple of months now. Oh, and you know when she told you she had to work late last night? Well according to him he was banging her at his apartment. Apparently he's been telling everyone all about it….he says she's very 'inventive''.'_

'_Who the hell is this'_

_The dial tone greeted his words. Danny slowly put the phone down; a sense of dread creeping over him……surely she wouldn't cheat on him……..but that bastard was rich successful, good looking and came from a top drawer West Coast family……why wouldn't she prefer him over Danny…………………?._

_End of flashback_

'Danny?' Danny looked up to see Martin looking quizzically at him; Martin continued 'Hey man, sorry, I didn't want to open up old wounds'

'Yeh, well, its all water under the bridge. You know the usual 'love of your life cheats on you with her rich, handsome very successful ex boyfriend.' Danny grinned weakly at Martin.

'Yeh?...sounds recent'

Danny pushed his plate away ' Yeh…..still, live and learn. I won't make that mistake again.'


	2. In the Park

**August 10th 2006 – Central Park, New York**

Jack, Martin, Sam and Elena arrived at the playground. Jack grabbed hold of the first cop he saw

'Where's the mother?'

'That's her over near the sandpit talking to my colleague'

Jack looked over and saw a woman standing with a female police officer. She was tall, with glossy chestnut hair that fell in loose waves to just below her shoulder. She was dressed in loose fitting khaki coloured linen cropped trousers that sat on her hips and a close fitting beige T shirt. There was a gap between the T shirt and the linen trousers that showed a small amount of toned, tanned flesh.

Jack turned to the cop 'What's the story'

'The mothers a doctor, I think she said she's an Attending at the ER Dept at NYU Downtown. Anyway the Doc there was in the park with her daughter. Daughter was playing in the sandpit with another child. An old man gets knocked over by some punk on a skateboard, the doc goes to help leaving the other child's mother to watch her daughter. While the doc's trying to save the old man a woman arrives, claims to be the doc's nanny and takes the kid'

Martin looked sceptical 'And this mother didn't think to check this woman was who she said she was?'

'Don't know, that's all I've heard so far'

'OK' Jack closed his notebook 'Martin, talk to the other child's mother and make sure we get a sketch of the supposed nanny. Sam, Elena, talk to anyone else who saw anything and see if we can get a sketch of this 'punk on a skateboard', I'm going to talk to the mother'

Jack headed over toward the sandpit 'Hi, I'm Special Agent Jack Malone with the FBI. I need to ask you some questions'

She turned to face him; she was stunning, with creamy skin and deep green eyes, deep green eyes that showed the terror she was feeling. Jack gently touched her arm

'Why don't we sit down?'

She stared blankly at him and then jerked her head in agreement. They sat on the bench; Jack turned towards her and saw she was sat with her head down and her hands clasped together. She took a deep breath and looked up at him

'Dr McCardle can you tell me what happened, in as much detail as you can remember please'

_Flashback to an hour earlier_

'_Mommy I want to walk'_

_Caitlin looked down at her daughter strapped into her stroller_

'_I know honey but it's a long walk to the playground. Why don't you sit in the stroller and have a rest so that you've not too tired to play when we get to the playground?'_

_Molly stared up at her mother; her face showed she was giving her words some serious thought. Caitlin struggled not to laugh, the look of intense concentration on that baby face was so adorable. _

'_Well……..okay' Molly settled back in her stroller clutching Ben, her well loved and distinctly grubby cuddly dog. Molly didn't go anywhere without Ben._

_Caitlin headed across the park to Molly's favourite playground. It was busy with lots of preschool children enjoying the sunshine; Caitlin found a spot on a bench and un-strapped an eager Molly from the stroller. _

'_Honey, remember what I've told you, play nicely and stay where I can see you'_

_Molly turned, but Caitlin kept hold of her 'Hey, hey, what about my kiss?'_

_Molly threw her arms around her mother's neck and kissed her. Caitlin hugged her, breathing in her scent and marvelling for the millionth time just how much she loved her._

_She dropped a kiss on her head 'Go on then, have fun'_

'_Mommy, look after Ben' Molly pushed the grubby toy into Caitlin's hands and ran off to the sandpit._

_Caitlin relaxed in the sunshine watching Molly play in the sandpit with a girl who looked to be about the same age. The two little girls were busy building something; Caitlin was willing to bet a years salary that it was Barbie's castle._

'_Hi…….Is that your little girl playing with Lucy in the sandpit?' _

_Caitlin turned and saw a pleasant faced, middle aged woman stood next to her. She smiled_

'_Well if Lucy is the pretty little girl in the purple top playing in the sandpit then yes she is playing with my daughter.'_

_The woman laughed 'Yes that's Lucy'_

_Caitlin moved her bag from the bench and placed it and Ben on the ground 'Would you like to sit down?'_

'_Oh thank you, that's very kind. I have to admit this heat is getting to me'_

'_I know, it amazes me how Molly seems totally unaffected by it'_

_The two women sat relaxed in the sunshine and chatting idly about the challenges of three year olds while they watched the girls play._

'_Help, we need some help here'_

_Caitlin jumped up and looked around. She could see some people a short distance away huddled around a figure on the ground_

'_We need a doctor….is there a doctor?'_

_Caitlin looked at her companion 'Look I'm a doctor, can you keep an eye on Molly for a moment while I just make sure everything is OK?'_

'_Of course' the woman looked in concern at the figure on the ground, 'don't worry about Molly.'_

_Caitlin looked over at Molly playing unconcernedly in the sandpit then she turned and headed over to the figure on the ground…….._

_End of flashback_

'That was the last time I saw her' Jack could see the whites of her knuckles as she clenched her fists in an attempt not to break down.

'Ok, how long were you with the man that had been knocked down'

'I don't really know, I guess it must have been about 10 minutes before the paramedics arrived and then I was with them for another 10 minutes before I called it'

'Why did you stay with him after the paramedics arrived? Surely you could have left him to them?'

Her head turned and she met his gaze. He saw the beginnings of anger in her eyes

'Agent Malone, his heart had stopped. I was administering CPR. The paramedic's carry a defibrillator; I used it to attempt to restart his heart but I couldn't. I also administered adrenalin, but nothing was working. The paramedics were from St Lukes; I spoke to the ER Attending there and we decided that there was nothing else that could be done and so I pronounced him dead at 11:42am and then I called the coroner. I stayed to do all of that because that's my job.'

Jack regarded her steadily for a moment; her eyes blazed with anger and he was sure that she was telling him the truth.

'Thank you…I have to ask'

The anger vanished from her eyes and the panic returned; she nodded her head.

'So, once you had called the coroner you headed back to where Molly had been playing?'

Her knuckles were white again as she clenched her hands together; her voice shook

_Flashback_

_Caitlin looked over at the sandpit, Molly wasn't there. She felt a stab of panic as her eyes frantically swept the playground looking for a little girl with long brown hair and brown eyes wearing a pink t shirt and shorts and a pink and white sunhat._

_She spotted Lucy on the swings but couldn't see Molly. She ran over to Lucy's mother_

'_Where's Molly?'_

_She saw the surprise in the woman's eyes 'Your Nanny arrived just after you went to help that poor man and took her home'_

_Caitlin felt her legs almost go from underneath her as she tried to make sense of what she was hearing….._

'_I don't have a nanny….'_

_End of Flashback_

'Dr McCardle, I'm just going to talk to my colleagues for a minute. This Officer will wait with you, OK?'

'Caitlin'

'Sorry?'

'My name is Caitlin'

Jack rested his hand on her arm in a brief comforting gesture 'Ok Caitlin, I'll be right back'

She nodded as he stood up. He could feel her eyes watching him as he walked across to where Martin and a middle aged woman were working with a sketch artist.

Martin saw him coming; Jack saw him excuse himself and head over to meet him

'What you got?'

'Her name is Gail Trenton, her husband is Roger Trenton.'

'The billionaire Roger Trenton?'

Martin nodded 'Oh yeh, anyway, she arrived at the playground shortly after Dr McCardle, and her daughter Lucy started playing with Molly in the sandpit. She said she approached Dr McCardle and started a conversation with her. She reckons they were talking for about 15 minutes before they heard someone call for help'

'Hmm, that fits the timeline that we have. What happened after Dr McCardle went to help the guy that had been knocked down?'

Martin checked his note book 'She said she turned back to watch the girls. About 1-2 minutes after Dr McCardle went to help a woman approached Molly in the sandpit. She said Molly seemed to know her and was laughing up at her. She went over and the woman introduced herself as Rose Henry and told Mrs Trenton that she was Dr McCardle's Nanny'

'She said she was _Dr McCardle's _Nanny. She didn't say she was the _Doctor's_ Nanny?'

'Yeh, I checked, she definitely used her name and she knew Molly's name too'

'OK, what happened next?'

'Well apparently she claimed that she had arrived at the incident at the same moment as Dr McCardle and that the Doc had told her to take Molly home because she thought she would probably have to go to the hospital with the old guy who had been knocked down. Mrs Trenton was unsure and so the 'Nanny' suggested that she go and check with Dr McCardle.'

'So why didn't she?'

Well she was going to but she could see that Dr McCardle was giving CPR and she said it was obvious that Molly knew her and was completely happy with her….she's absolutely devastated Jack, I don't think she had anything to do with this.'

Jack and Martin headed to where Gail Trenton was sitting. She looked up when the two men approached

'Mrs Trenton, this is Agent Malone, he's got a couple more questions to ask you'

'I'm so sorry, I feel so bad about what's happened, if there is anything I can do…..' tears were pouring down her cheeks.

Jack sat down next to her 'Mrs Trenton, you told Agent Fitzgerald that you were sure that Molly knew this woman, was there anything in particular that led you to believe this?'

Gail Trenton took a deep breath 'Well Molly called her by her name and she seemed very comfortable around her……..' she paused thinking hard.

'There is something but………' she looked frustrated as she tried to remember. As Jack waited for her to remember he glanced over to where Caitlin stood next to the bench she and Gail Trenton had been sitting on. He watched as she bent down and picked up her bag……

'Yes…..that's it' Gail Trenton sounded relieved. Jack looked at her and could see she was staring at Caitlin, watching her pick up her bag.

'The Nanny, that woman…..she put Molly in the stroller and was about to go when she stopped and asked Molly where Ben was.'

'Who is Ben?' Jack sounded confused

'Ben is her toy dog. Molly told her that she had given it to her mommy. When I first got to the park and started chatting to Dr McCardle she moved her bag on the ground so that I could sit down. She moved Molly's toy dog, Ben at the same time. That woman picked up Dr McCardle's bag and found the dog underneath it. She handed it to Molly and then she put the bag back and asked me to watch it until Dr McCardle came to get it. Then they left'

Jack thanked Gail Trenton and then he and Martin started to walk back toward Caitlin. Jack turned to Martin

'So, she knows Dr McCardle's name, she knows Molly's name and she knows the name of Molly's cuddly toy……..this isn't a random snatch, this is personal'


	3. Ghosts from the Past

**Bullpen – FBI Offices Manhattan**

Vivien was sitting at her computer screen when Sam, Elena and Martin arrived back from the park.

'How's it going?'

'Well, we think the snatch was planned. It looks as if the 'Nanny' was working with an accomplice who knocked over Gerald Forsyth to create a diversion. They knew that Dr McCardle would go to help and grabbed the girl while she was distracted'

Martin placed two artist's sketches on the white board as he filled Viv in while Sam and Elena both sat down at the conference table.

'And Gerald Forsyth didn't make it?'

'No, he died of a suspected heart attack after he was knocked over'

'Did Dr McCardle see those sketch's?'

'Yes, she didn't recognise either of them'

'So what have you got so far Viv?' Elena asked

'Ok, well Dr Caitlin McCardle, graduated top of her class at NYU and got an internship in the ER Dept but transferred to St Christopher's, San Francisco, in early August 2002.'

'That's not usual is it?' Sam had a frown on her face

'No it's not' continued Vivien 'and she must have been pregnant at the time because she gave birth to Molly on March 3rd 2003. Anyway she remained in San Francisco until May this year when she completed her residency programme. She was approached by NYU with an offer of an Attending's post which she took.'

'Who is Molly's father?'

Martin was starting to fill in the timeline on the white board.

'Well that's an interesting question, Molly's birth certificate does not list a father' Viv paused seeing Sam, Elena and Martin all realise the potential significance of this fact.

'So we possibly have a father being denied access to his child and resorting to kidnapping' Elena sounded thoughtful. 'We need to know who the father is' she looked around the bullpen 'Where's Danny I haven't seen him all morning'.

'He's in court; he has to testify in the Pryor case. Where's Jack? Vivien stood up and approached the conference table

'He took Dr McCardle back to her loft in Greenwich Village…..' Martin couldn't finish before Sam exclaimed

'Greenwich Village? On a Doctor's salary, with a young child? How does she afford that?'

Martin raised an eyebrow at her and shrugged his shoulders.

'Hmm' Vivien sounded thoughtful 'Well, we need to establish who the father is. I'll call Jack and get him to ask Dr McCardle about that. Martin, you check into the Doctor's finances, Sam you get to the hospital and interview her colleagues, see if any of them know why this might have happened and Elena, you need to check out everyone who cared for Molly when Dr McCardle was at work'

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

**Caitlin and Molly's Apartment – Greenwich Village, New York**

The tech guys had finished setting up the trap and trace on Caitlin's phone in case a ransom demand came in. Jack looked around and saw her stood at the window staring sightlessly down into the street below. His phone rang

'Malone'

'Hey Jack, its Viv are you able to talk?'

Jack looked over to Caitlin who hadn't moved

'Caitlin, I'm just going to step into the hallway to take this call'

She looked up, her eyes staring blankly at him before nodding briefly and then turning back to stare out of the window.

Jack stepped into the hall

'OK Viv, what've we got'

'OK, well the apartment is owned outright by Dr McCardle. It was bought in May when she started at NYU as an Attending. Martin has been following the money and it appears that Dr McCardle has trust funds that currently total around $25million.'

Jack whistled softly in surprise

'So we could get a ransom demand then'

'Well it's certainly a possibility, but it is interesting. She appears to have received control of her trust funds at the age of 18 but the only times she has touched them are to pay her college tuition; to buy a house in San Francisco, which she sold when she moved back to New York, and to buy the loft she's in now. There is no evidence that she has ever taken an income from it. When she was working as a resident at NYU she survived on the money she earned and lived in a bed sit.

'Interesting, I wonder why she is so reluctant to use the money. Who set up the trusts?'

'Martin is still working on that, there are a number of dummy corporations including several registered in the Cayman's so there is no guarantee we will be able to find out who set them up.'

'Ok, anything else?'

'Yeh, her social security number was issued when she was 18. We have no record of a Caitlin McCardle prior to that date. It appears to be a legal name change but again, we are still trying to track it back.'

'Ok, anything else?'

'One last thing, there is no record of who Molly's father is and no evidence that she is receiving any child support payments'

'Ok well I'll go and have a conversation with her and see what I can find out'

Jack went back into the apartment; Caitlin was still stood at the window staring out. Jack walked to her side and she looked up at him, her eyes desperate

'Have you heard anything?'

No not yet, but I need to ask you some more questions'

She looked at him blankly for a moment then sat down on the window ledge. Jack sat next to her

'Caitlin, the smallest detail can make the difference between finding Molly and not finding her. We think that she has been taken by someone who knows you so your background is a vital part of us finding Molly; do you understand?'

She frowned at him, impatience showing in her eyes

'Just ask me what you need to know'

'OK, well firstly there are your trust funds; there's a lot of money and we can't see where it has come from. Can you help me with that?'

'Most of its guilt money, some of it is from my mother's family'

Jack looked at her blankly

'My father is a total bastard. My mother died when I was a baby and he re-married when I was 4. My step mother is a society princess, you know, Daddy's little darling, get's whatever she wants whenever she want's it.'

'OK, so how did you end up with trust funds totalling $25million?'

'My step mother didn't want me around so I was sent away to school. Holidays were usually spent with my mother's parents with just enough time spent with my father and step mother so as not to raise too many eyebrows' there was a hint of sarcasm in her tone. She continued;

'My grandfather died when I was 15 and my grandmother died when I was 17 which meant that I had to spend more time with my father. The Christmas I turned 18 my step mother and I had a huge fight after she accused me of borrowing some shoes or something equally pathetic. During the fight she hit me and knocked me down a flight of stairs. I was knocked unconscious; she panicked and called my father who called a doctor friend of his. He came over and checked me out and told them I needed to go to hospital for a proper check but they refused because they were worried that the press would get hold of it and damage my step mothers reputation'; her tone was openly contemptuous now

'Two days after the fall I was driving into town when I passed out at the wheel. The car crashed off the road into a ditch; I was taken to hospital where they diagnosed a fractured skull. It was obvious that the fractured skull had happened prior to the crash and so they called the police because they thought I must have been assaulted. ' She paused and looked at Jack.

Jack shook his head in disbelief 'So…what happened next?'

'Well to cut a very long story short my father begged me not to tell the police what had really happened. He wanted me to tell them that I had fallen down the stairs because I had been drinking and that I hadn't told anyone because I was worried I would get into trouble as I was underage' her mouth tightened in distaste at the memory.

'I refused. My stepmother's father came to see me. He said he would pay me to 'go away' as he so charmingly put it. The conditions were that I would change my name and have no further contact with my father's family. I told him to take a running jump but he told me that he would set me up on a drugs charge if I didn't take the offer'

She paused again, raised her head and looked at Jack. 'I knew he would do it so I agreed to change my name and to 'go away' but I told him I didn't want the money. Being the sort of man he is he wouldn't believe I wouldn't want the money so he set up the funds anyway. I haven't seen them since.'

'And you've hardly used the money?'

Actually I've never used it. When I was 18 I also received the money my grandparents and my mother left me. They aren't in the same league as my step mother's family but most people would think it was a significant amount; it's certainly more than enough for my needs.'

'I used it to pay my college tuition, my grandfather always wanted me to be a doctor and he always said that he had put some money aside to pay for it, but once I could earn enough to take care of myself I decided I wouldn't use the money unless I needed to. When Molly was born I knew I needed somewhere safe for us to live and at that point she was more important than my stupid pride so I used some of the money.

She paused again 'Does that give you what you need to know'

Jack looked at her thoughtfully 'What was your name before you changed it'

'Catherine Tremaine'

Jack stared at her, 'As in Lucas Tremaine?'

'Yes, he's my father'

He understood now. Lucas Tremaine was married to the former Melissa Heatherbridge, daughter of Roland Heatherbridge a multi billionaire industrialist. Jack knew that the FBI suspected links to organised crime but as Mr Heatherbridge employed an excellent legal team and had a significant number of congressmen and senators beholden to him for campaign funds nothing had ever been proven.

'Your father is one of his lawyers'

'My father signed a pact with the devil without so much as a backwards glance' she sounded contemptuous.

'We have to consider that they were involved in Molly's kidnap'

'I understand that you have to consider that they may have taken Molly but I really can't think of a single reason why they would. There has been no contact since that Christmas and I can't see why they would suddenly snatch my daughter' she sounded certain.

Jack thought she was probably right. The snatch looked like it had been planned but not so well that it spoke of the money and resources Roland Heatherbridge would have been able to bring to the party. He changed the subject;

'OK,' he paused for a moment 'Caitlin, we checked Molly's birth records…….'

'And you want to know who her father is'

'Yes'

She turned away and stared out of the window; the silence lengthened

'Look, ninety percent of child kidnappings are by a parent so one of the theories we have to consider is that her father snatched her so it would help enormously if we knew who he was' Jack spoke firmly

She shook her head and he could see tears in her eyes 'I promise you, Molly's father has nothing to do with this.'

Jack opened his mouth to speak but before he could his cell phone rang……


	4. How it all Began

**NYU ER Department/ Freddie's Diner**

Sam waited patiently whilst the ER's chief nurse, Helen Atkins finished suturing the cut on the hand of her patient and finished the paperwork that allowed them to be discharged. When she had finished she smiled tiredly at Sam.

'Look, that's me finished now and I really need a coffee. Do you mind if we head over to Freddie's across the road while we talk?'

Sam smiled 'I could do with a coffee too'

Freddie's was a typical diner and clearly drew a lot of trade from the hospital. As Sam walked in she could see the TV over the bar was showing a picture of Molly

'_The FBI and police are still searching for a three year old girl snatched from Central Park this morning._

_Molly McCardle was snatched by this woman who posed as her Nanny. Her Mother, Dr Caitlin McCardle is an Attending at the NYU ER and is due to make a statement later today._

_The FBI has issued this number for the public to call if they have any information.'_

Everyone in the diner was silent watching the news report. Sam saw the big man stood behind the counter wipe a tear from his eye. Helen spoke softly

'Most of the people that come in here work in the hospital. Freddie', she indicated the man Sam had noticed 'has run this place for 20 years and knows everyone but he has his favourites and Caitlin is one of them. He knew her when she was a resident and he was over the moon when she came back. She brings Molly in here sometimes at weekends and Freddie dotes on her.'

Sam and Helen approached the counter. Freddie came around and hugged Helen 'I can't believe this. How is Caitlin, she must be going out of her mind'

Helen hugged him back and then indicated Sam, 'Freddie, this is Special Agent Spade. She wants to ask us some questions about Caitlin and Molly'

Freddie turned to Sam 'Of course, anything I can do. Why don't we grab a seat at the back and I'll get some coffee for us to drink while we talk.'

He led them to a booth at the back of the diner. Sam opened her notebook

'How long have you both known Dr McCardle?'

Helen looked thoughtful 'Well I've known Caitlin since her first ER rotation as a medical student so that would have be, what, 5, no 6 years ago now.' She looked at Freddie

'I remember her the first time she came into the diner, such a beautiful girl. She sat on that stool', Freddie indicated the stool at the end of the counter 'and we talked about Chicago.' He looked at Sam 'that's were I grew up and Caitlin knows it well.'

'Would you say you and Dr McCardle were close?' Sam looked at Helen

'We got on well then and we get on well now. If our breaks coincide then we always grab a coffee together. If you are asking if I know the in's and out's of her life then no I don't but I don't think anyone does. She's not the type to open up much about anything outside the hospital.'

Sam looked thoughtful 'Is there anyone else you would say she was particularly close to?'

'Well she and Lucy Randall went to med school together. I think she and Caitlin are close'

'Where would I find Lucy?'

'She's a paediatrician at NYU. She's in today and her shift wont finish for another 3 hours so you should be able to find her in the hospital.'

'Ok thanks, that's really helpful' Sam paused, 'look this may sound very nosy and intrusive but I need you to tell me anything you know about any boyfriends Dr McCardle may have had'

Sam saw the look that passed between Helen and Freddie 'Guy's I know it's not fun to talk about this stuff but we think Molly was taken by someone who had a grudge against Dr McCardle and we have to consider that it might be because of someone she dated'

Freddie indicated to Helen 'Tell her'

'Well, I don't know about any boyfriend's before she started her rotation at NYU but I doubt they were important, she certainly never mentioned any. She started dating Nick Hollander towards the end of her stint as a med student. He was a third year surgical resident then. They dated for around 3 months or so but Caitlin ended it because he was too possessive' Helen again looked at Freddie

'Yes, I remember that she was dating him. I never got the impression that it was serious for her' Freddie sounded thoughtful.

'Was there any bad blood between them after they split?'

'Well Nick wasn't happy but I suspect that was his ego being bruised; I think it was usually him who did the dumping, but they stayed friendly enough and he started dating a nurse in the ICU a couple of months after they split'

Sam smile at Helen 'Thanks, that's very helpful. How long was it before Dr McCardle started dating again?'

Freddie and Helen looked at each other again and Helen laughed 'I can tell you almost exactly'

_Flashback: 10:05pm Thursday 7th February 2002_

'_God its cold' Helen shivered as she and Caitlin ran across the street to Freddie's_

_They pushed open the door and entered the diner. _

'_Hi Rachel, you about to go on shift?'_

_Rachel Henderson turned and pulled a face at Helen and Caitlin 'Yes and I' m late…please tell me it's quiet in there tonight.' _

_Caitlin was laughing 'Well I will if you want me to but you'll know me for a liar the moment you walk through the doors'_

_The three women laughed. Freddie arrived over with a percolator full of freshly brewed coffee._

'_Coffee ladies?'_

'_Yes please, and I need mine to go. Are the two of you drinking in or out?' Rachel asked_

'_I need to get home, Mike promised he would wait and eat with me tonight so I'd better not keep him waiting'_

_Caitlin smiled at Helen 'I take it that things are going well with Mike then?'_

'_Mmmm, yes they are!' _

_Caitlin grinned 'Well Freddie I'll have mine here please'_

_Freddie beamed at Caitlin and made up two coffees' to go and one in a mug. As he poured the coffee the door opened and a tall, dark haired man walked in. _

'_Danny' Rachel sounded surprised._

_The man turned towards the women at the counter. His face was impassive as he looked at Rachel, then he smiled although Caitlin got the impression that he was less than pleased to see her_

'_Hello Rachel'_

_A slightly awkward silence fell before Rachel blurted out 'So what are you doing here?'_

'_I was in the neighbourhood, haven't eaten all day, saw this place and remembered you telling me how good it was' _

_Freddie beamed at him 'Well, what can I get you?' _

_Danny looked at Rachel in her coat 'Are you just coming or just going' Caitlin got the distinct feeling that he was hoping she was going._

_Rachel looked at the clock behind the counter and gasped 'Hell, look at the time, I've got to go' she turned back to Danny, a strange look in her eye 'It was nice to see you again, maybe see you around some time' with that she waved to Caitlin, Helen and Freddie and headed out of the diner._

_Danny smiled at the two women stood at the counter 'Well, I'm starving, what would you recommend?'_

_Helen grinned at him 'I'd love to help you choose but I am well and truly in the dog house if I don't get home on time tonight but Caitlin was planning to stay and eat here tonight so I am sure she will be only too willing to help you.'_

_Helen saw the slight widening of Caitlin's eyes as she realised what Helen was up to. Helen bent close and hissed in her ear 'He's totally hot, there's no ring, he wouldn't be eating here if he had a woman at home to cook for him so go for it girl'_

'_What?'_

_Caitlin couldn't believe what she was hearing_

_Helen leaned forward again 'You need to get laid and I reckon he could be just what the Doctor ordered' and with that she beamed at Danny and Freddie and headed out of the diner._

_Caitlin could hardly bring herself to look at Danny. She dragged her eyes up and saw he was struggling not to laugh_

'_How much of that did you hear?'_

'_Well, I'm flattered that she thinks I'm hot, she's right, I'm not married and I'm not dating anyone at the moment' Danny was struggling to keep a straight face as he saw the growing horror in her eyes and decided that some diplomacy was called for 'but I didn't catch what she said after that'_

_Danny watched in amusement as she flushed and put her head into her hands; 'Well I suppose we have to be thankful for small mercies'._

_Caitlin picked her head up and saw that he had been unable to stop a smile spreading across his face; she decided that Helen was right, he really was gorgeous; she found herself smiling back._

'_Are you eating here tonight?' Danny tried to sound casual, unconcerned, as if he was always asking drop dead beautiful women to eat with him._

_Their eyes met and Caitlin felt as if all the breath had been sucked from her body. She somehow managed to speak; 'I was planning to'_

'_Would you mind if I joined you?'_

_He watched as her mouth curved into a smile; 'I'd like that' _

_End of flashback_

'And that was the start of it' Helen and Freddie were both grinning

'The start of it?'

Freddie had a broad grin in his face 'Agent Spade they sat there from just after 10pm until around quarter to six the next morning and didn't stop talking. Then he left and Caitlin headed over to the hospital to start her next shift.'

Helen grinned 'I was on shift with her that morning and she was tired obviously, but she couldn't wipe the smile off her face. I know she got a call from him later that morning and when her shift finished at 2pm she said she was going to meet him for lunch.'

'You said his name was Danny, do you know his surname?'

Helen and Freddie looked at each other for a moment

'I don't think I ever found out his surname' Helen sounded thoughtful 'did you?' she turned to Freddie

Freddie shook his head 'No, and I only saw him a couple of times after that. I would ask Caitlin how it was going and she would just laugh and say it was going great' he paused then smiling broadly he continued 'but you could tell it was going great she just had a glow about her'

Helen nodded 'She was really, really happy but she didn't talk about it much. If I asked she would just say everything was great, I certainly never saw him at the ER.'

'So you said you were certain that you knew when the relationship started?'

'Yes, well Valentines Day was exactly one week after the night they met in the diner and Caitlin got a dozen red roses sent to her in the ER. I remember Rachel was on shift that night and was asking who they were from. I told her that I thought they were from Danny and she looked a little funny'. Helen looked at Sam and shrugged

'Well I'm nosy, I admit it so I asked her how she knew him. She said they had dated him the previous year for a while but that they had split up. She looked a little pissed but then she just smiled and said she hoped Caitlin would have better luck than she had.'

'So does Rachel still work at the hospital?'

'Yes, she's my deputy in the ER. She's on holiday at the moment'

'When did her holiday start?'

'Yesterday, she's away for a week but I have no idea where she's going. It was only arranged last week but she said she had some urgent personal business to take care of so I agreed. I couldn't really say no after she had just worked almost an entire month of night shifts.''

'And you have no idea what the personal business is?'

Helen hesitated. When she spoke she sounded reluctant 'Look, this is pure speculation and I could be way off base but she's dating one of the surgical Attendings, Ethan Robinson, and it's possible they are experiencing some problems. That might be the personal business that she was referring to'

'Is he on holiday too?'

'No he's on shift at the moment.'

'Ok, well it's probably nothing to do with Molly's disappearance but thanks anyway. Now what happened between Dr McCardle and 'Danny'?'

Freddie sighed 'Well they dated for a few months. They even went away for a week together then all of a sudden she came in here one day and you could tell something was wrong. I asked if she was OK but she wouldn't talk about it. Two weeks later and she comes in, she's in tears and tells me she's transferring to San Francisco. I asked her why and she just said she couldn't stay.'

Sam looked at Helen 'Did she say anything to you?'

'No not really. You could tell she was upset and she looked dreadful, kept having to go to the bathroom and throwing up but when you think about when Molly was born I guess that was the morning sickness. She told me she was leaving as she finished her last shift. When I asked why she just shook her head and said she needed a fresh start.'

'Do you think 'Danny' is Molly's father?'

'Well given the dates I can't see how it can be anyone else'

'Did you ask her when she came back this year?'

Freddie and Helen looked at each other again before Helen spoke

'I asked her if Danny was Molly's father', she paused, 'Caitlin just said that as far as she was concerned Molly didn't have a father' Helen looked at Freddie and he continued

'She made it very clear that she wasn't prepared to talk about it and we respected that'

Sam looked thoughtful 'OK just a couple more questions. I know you said that you don't know Danny's surname but do you have any idea about what he did for a living?'

'I don't remember her saying what he did but I do remember her saying that they spent more time at her place than his because her bed sit was closer to where they both worked where as he lived in the Bronx….I think' Helen sounded uncertain.

'He worked for the Government but I'm not sure what he did exactly' Freddie sounded certain

'How do you know?'

'Because I joked with her not long after they had met. Told her that I assumed he was a dealer on Wall Street to afford the red roses on Valentine's Day and she just laughed and said no he was a Government employee and that he had all but bankrupted himself sending them to her. I told her that he must think she was special and I remember she blushed and said she hoped so'

Sam sat back looking at Freddie and Helen 'Thank you both, before I go can you just look at these sketches and tell me if you recognise either of these people'

Sam pushed the sketches across the table toward them.

Helen shook her head 'No sorry'

Freddie stared at the sketch of the 'nanny' 'No…' he sounded uncertain, Sam looked at him

'You don't sound certain'

Freddie frowned 'She reminds me of someone but I don't know who'

Sam looked at him 'Could she have in here recently, I mean it is possible that she has been following Caitlin. Or she works at the hospital?'

Freddie stared at the sketch and looked at Sam, frustration showing in his eyes 'I don't know' he dropped his head into his hands.

Helen put her arm around him, Sam reached over and touched his arm 'Freddie' he looked up and she could see tears in his eyes 'don't worry but if you remember, call me'


	5. Molly's Father

**Caitlin and Molly's apartment – Greenwich Village, New York**

Jack's face showed the frustration he was feeling as she refused to tell him who Molly's father was. He opened his mouth, angry words bubbling to the surface when his cell phone rang

'I'll take this outside'

He stood up without waiting to see her reaction and strode across the floor to the door to the hallway; as the door closed behind him Jack answered the phone, 'Malone'

'Hey Jack, its Sam, I think I've got a lead on who the father is'

'Yeh well that's more than I've managed' Jack sounded angry; 'What have you got?'

'Dr McCardle was dating someone between February and August 2002. It appears to have come to an abrupt end and she transferred to San Francisco at a speed that raised a considerable number of eyebrows here. I've spoken to Martin and he is running it down.'

'Ok what about the boyfriend'

'Well I don't have much on him but I haven't been able to speak to another friend of hers a 'Dr Lucy Randall' because she is in surgery at the moment but apparently she should be free in the next 30 minutes'. Sam paused and consulted her notes

'What I do know is that the boyfriend dated a nurse here the previous year but she's on holiday at the moment, Viv is trying to track her down. He met Dr McCardle indirectly through this nurse at a diner across from the hospital.'

Sam could hear the intake of breath from Jack that she guessed was prelude to Jack losing his temper and rushed on

'Apparently Dr McCardle didn't really speak to anyone about her private life but everyone who knew her then has said that it appeared that she was very happy in the relationship and that there didn't appear to be any problems until the end'

'Is that it? No name, no description?' Jack was struggling to stay calm

'No, I have a description, er, he was tall between 6ft and 6ft 2inches, he has dark hair, dark eyes, possibly brown and was of Latino appearance. They estimated his age in 2002 as late 20's early 30's. They don't have a surname but his first name was Danny and it would appear he works for the Government in a downtown Manhattan location.'

Sam stopped and waited for Jack to speak but he remained silent. Eventually she broke the silence

'Jack, there has to be more than one 6ft 1inch tall, Latino government employee in downtown Manhattan called Danny'

'Yeh, but tell me, from what they told you about him, did it sound like our Danny?'

'Jack, the Danny I know, the Danny we know, would never abandon a child, particularly if it was his child. The only explanation would be if he didn't know about Molly'

'I don't buy that, the relationship ended at the point where she had found out she was pregnant. It makes sense that something triggered the break up and this is a fairly classic reason. Anyway, she doesn't strike me as the type not to tell someone something this important.' Jack paused

'I asked her straight out who the father was and all she would say is that she could promise me that Molly's father had nothing to do with her kidnapping'

'Well, I guess someone needs to speak to Danny' Sam didn't sound as if she fancied this job at all

'Yeh, has he finished in court yet?'

'Don't know, I'll get Viv to check it out'

'OK. Sam, go and find Lucy Randall and see if she can throw any more light on all of this, I'm going to speak to the good Doctor again'

Jack hung up and headed back into the apartment.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Caitlin heard Jack approaching and looked up. Before he could speak she handed him a photo

'This is Molly's father'

Jack looked down at a photo of Caitlin and a tall dark haired man………. .he groaned inwardly.

'Danny Taylor is Molly's father?'

'Yes'

'You are aware that he works for this team?'

'I know he used to, as I haven't spoken to him in four years it's kind of hard to know what the hell he's up to at the minute'

Jack ignored the hostility in her voice

'Well he does, he just happens to be in court at the moment which is why he wasn't at the park'

She remained silent

'Does he know he's Molly's father?'

She stared at him in disbelief, anger growing in her eyes, 'Of course he bloody well knows, what the hell do you take me for?'

The concentrated fury in her words stopped Jack in his tracks for a moment. He could feel the anger radiating from her

'OK, it's just that Danny has never mentioned to anyone at work that he has a daughter and the Danny I know, that we all know, wouldn't walk away from any child, particularly not his own'

She turned away and he could see her breathing deeply, trying to regain her self control; 'Well Agent Malone, it would appear that you don't know him as well as you would like to think doesn't it?

She sounded bitter

Jack thought about what he had just learned but he could still not make sense of it. 'Can you tell me what happened?'

She turned and he could see tears in her eyes. She sat down on the window ledge staring at the ground as she started to speak.

'We had been going out for 5 months; everything was going really well and Danny had asked me to think about us getting a place together, she paused as if to marshal her thoughts before continuing;

'Before I dated Danny I dated a surgeon, Nick Hollander for about 3 months. We split about 6 months before Danny and I got together. One night in the ER the Chief of Surgery came and found me. He told me that he had just had a call to tell him that Nick's father had been killed in a car crash and his mother was badly injured. He was needed for an emergency in the OR and he needed someone to tell Nick.'

She paused and swallowed before continuing in a shaky voice; 'I found Nick, he was outside the ER in the ambulance bay. I told him and he collapsed. I was holding him; we ended up on the floor with me holding him while he cried'

Another pause and Jack could feel her shaking 'I got home late that night because there was an accident on the expressway. When I got there Danny was waiting. I was so pleased he was there, it had been such a crappy day and I was feeling so tired I didn't notice anything was wrong. Anyway I soon realised there was………..'

She looked up at Jack and he could see the tears were rolling down her cheeks; 'He accused me of cheating on him with Nick, he told me that someone had called him to tell him that the affair had been going on for two months and that he had come to the hospital tonight to ask me what was going on and he had seen Nick and I 'making out';

She angrily dashed the tears away from her eyes; 'I was so stunned I couldn't find any words to defend myself and then I just got angry. I yelled at him to get out, that if that was what he thought of me I never wanted to see him again. He left and I've never seen him since.'

Jack looked at her 'Did you know you were pregnant?'

'No, I realised a couple of days later'

'So, if you haven't seen him since that argument how did you tell him that you were pregnant?'

'I called and left a couple of messages for him to call me but all I got was a message on my answer phone telling me he didn't think we had anything to talk about. I decided that I would try to speak to him face to face but in case he refused to listen to me I decided that I would have a letter with me that I could leave for him to read. So I wrote a letter, went to his apartment and knocked on the door. No-one was in so I pushed the letter under the door.'

Jack waited for her to continue. She was staring at the floor again

'I didn't hear from him. Nick had gone back to San Francisco to be with his mother. He rang to thank me for breaking the news to him and to tell me he was staying in San Francisco, that a friend of his fathers had pulled strings to get him a Surgical Attendings job at St Christopher's. He could tell I was upset, I told him everything. He offered to speak to Danny and tell him that nothing had been going on but I was so angry by then I said no. Two days later he rang me back and told me that he had arranged it so that if I wanted to transfer to St Christophers to complete my residency I could. He had told them I was pregnant and they were OK with that.'

She looked up and smiled sadly at Jack

'So that's what I did'

'Did you tell Danny where you had gone?'

'No, he had more than enough chances, anyway, he works missing persons, he could have found me if he wanted to.'

'And you haven't had any contact with him since then'

'I wrote to him after Molly was born. I sent him some photos and told him that if he wanted to know her I wouldn't stop him but I didn't hear anything'

'Any chance he didn't get the letters?' Jack knew he was clutching at straws

'The first letter was pushed under his door, the second was sent by registered mail. I even spoke to the post office and they confirmed that it was signed for.'

Jack sat in silence for a few moments trying to reconcile the Danny he knew with the Danny he was hearing about here.

'OK, well obviously I need to speak to Danny……………'

She interrupted him; 'I don't want to see him and I don't want to speak to him' her voice was cold, angry. Jack stared at her for a moment then nodded

'Sure, I'll make sure he doesn't contact you'


	6. Falling Apart

**NYU Hospital Crèche **

Elena gritted her teeth; she understood that it was upsetting, she was the mother of a young daughter herself for gods sake, if anyone understood that a child being snatched was upsetting it was another parent but she was struggling to remain calm.

Mrs Mackin grabbed yet another tissue as she continued to cry and ramble at the same time, 'I just can't believe this, we are always so careful, she's just the most adorable child, oh what are we going to do'

'MRS MACKIN'

Mrs Mackin stared at Elena, an offended look in her eye

Elena gritted her teeth and plastered a smile on her face 'I do understand how upsetting this must be, particularly for someone as, er, sensitive as you clearly are, but I need your help if we are going to find Molly.'

Mrs Mackin inclined her head stiffly, still upset at the tone of voice Elena had been forced to employ.

'Now, you say that this woman, Rose Henry, has worked for you for the last 4 weeks?'

Mrs Mackin nodded briefly, she still looked offended but Elena reckoned if that stopped the rambling she could live with it.

'In what capacity was she employed?'

'We have one of our nursery assistants on maternity leave at the moment, Frances Livingston, she has just had the most adorable little boy, Jake, 9lbs, and her only a little thing,' she saw the look in Elena's eye and stopped.

'Well, anyway, we recruited a temporary replacement, Nicole Evans. She has worked out so well, I'm going to see if we can offer her a permanent role, the children just love her, it was so unfortunate what happened'

She stopped and looked expectantly at Elena. Elena mentally counted to 10 before asking 'So what did happen Mrs Mackin?'

'Oh yes, of course, well she and her husband were in a car accident and she broke her leg. She was told that she will be in plaster for weeks so we had to get a temporary replacement for _her._

Mrs Mackin sounded almost indignant; Elena thought she would be lucky if she hadn't ground her teeth down to stubs by the time she had extracted the information she needed.

'I see, and so Rose Henry is her replacement?'

'Yes dear that's right'

'OK, what background checks did you do on her?'

Mrs Mackin looked offended 'The same checks I do on all my staff. She had the required photo ID's and the police check came back clean so we employed her.

'And how was she as an employee?'

'She was on time, she was polite and she was very good with the children'

'Do you group the children according to their age?'

'Yes we do'

'And did Rose Henry work with Molly's group?'

'No she worked with the older children'

'Did she have any contact with Molly?'

'Oh yes, the groups mingle a lot, Molly knew Rose, in fact I noticed that she and Rose got on very well'

'Was there anything strange about Rose?'

'Well, she knew when I employed her that the job was for 6 weeks but on Saturday she called me and told me she wouldn't be able to come in this week as there was a family emergency. I asked her what sort of emergency and she was quite rude.' She sounded indignant

Elena gritted her teeth again and counted to 10, no she decided better make it 20; 'I see, yes that must have been very annoying but I think maybe my question was a little unclear, what I meant was did you notice anything strange about her behaviour at work?'

Mrs Mackin looked perplexed 'I don't follow you dear'

Elena plastered another smile across her face 'Well, was she overly interested in any of the children, did she try and find out details about their parents, that sort of thing'

Mrs Mackin drew herself up and with a haughty look on her face, 'No of course not, I wouldn't employ anyone that would behave in such a manner'

Elena stared in disbelief 'No of course you wouldn't, you just employ kidnappers'

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

**NYU Paediatrics Department**

Sam paced up and down the hall outside the paediatrics operating theatre suite waiting to speak to Lisa Randall. She glanced along the corridor and saw Elena heading in her direction,

'Hey, how are you getting on?'

Elena rolled her eyes 'The woman who run's the crèche is a ..a…a …MORON'

Elena grinned at her weakly as Sam raised her eyebrows in surprise; 'Hmm, she's clearly got under your skin, but apart from the fact that she is a 'moron' did you learn anything?'

'Well 'Rose Henry' has worked in the crèche for the last four weeks, however get this, Viv has checked the records, Rose Henry died aged 3 years old in 1974.'

Sam stared, 'So it's an alias'

'Yes, we checked out the address she gave, it's empty. We checked with the landlord; he said she rented the apartment a month ago on a short term basis and paid up front in cash but that she's never lived there. Her cell phone was a prepaid one which she bought for cash. There are no credit cards and no bank account and she never cashed any of her pay checks'

'This sounds as if it has been planned for a long time'

'Yes, Jack has spoken to Dr McCardle and she claims that she never saw Rose when she dropped Molly off or picked her up, Not only that but she has never heard of a Rose Henry.'

'Any ransom demand?

'No there's been no contact', Elena shook her head in frustration before continuing 'Jack said you were trying to interview one of Dr McCardle's friends at the hospital'

'Yes, I'm just waiting for her to finish up in surgery'

'You want a hand?'

'Sure'

The two women sat on some seats waiting for Dr Randall. They saw a blonde woman leave the operating theatre and look around. She spotted Sam and Elena and headed in their direction

'Agent Spade?' she looked first at Sam and then at Elena

'Yes, and this is Agent Delgardo' Sam indicated Elena, 'you must be Dr Randall?'

'Yes I am. They told me what happened to Molly and that you wanted to speak to me' tears sprang into her eyes and she dashed them away impatiently. 'How is Caitlin holding up?'

'Dr McCardle is holding up as well as can be expected. She'll be making a televised appeal this afternoon.' Sam put a hand onto Dr Randall's arm in silent comfort

Elena indicated an empty waiting room 'Why don't we go in there to talk Dr Randall?'

'Sure, and my name is Lisa' she turned and led the way into the room.

When they had sat down Sam spoke

'Lisa, I have spoken to a number of people who know Caitlin and everyone says the same things; that she is an excellent doctor, that she loves her daughter, that she isn't dating anyone at the moment, that they can't think of anyone who would want to take Molly and that they don't really know anything about her outside of work'

Sam looked at Lisa 'I am hoping you can tell me more about her as a person outside of her work here'

Lisa regarded the two agents thoughtfully 'I do understand but Caitlin is a very private person and she doesn't let many people get that close to her.'

'Lisa, if we are going to find Molly we need to know as much as possible about Caitlin because we believe that this is the key to understanding who took her daughter' Elena sounded frustrated

Lisa sat forward and dropped her head into her hands for a moment then sat back up 'Ok, what do you want to know?'

'We know she dated Nick Hollander. Can you tell us anything about that relationship?'

'Well as part of our training we have to do a surgical rotation. Nick was one of the residents then and they take responsibility for the med students. Everyone teased Caitlin because it was obvious that he fancied her, I think a few of the other female students were jealous really I mean he's good looking, a rising star and comes from this incredibly rich, 'high society' family in San Francisco'

'Anyway, after the surgical rotation was over Nick asked Caitlin out but she turned him down. I was dating one of his colleagues so I arranged to meet Caitlin for a girls' night out one night and we 'accidentally' bumped into my boyfriend and Nick. At the end of the evening he asked her out again and she said yes; they dated for about three months.'

'Why did they break up?'

Lisa smiled wryly at Sam

'Well, Mr 'I'm so cool' fell hard for Caitlin. She liked him but it was just some fun for her, a break from the study books. He got clingy and started checking up on her every move so she ended it.'

Elena raised an eyebrow 'Did he cause any trouble?'

'Well we had a couple of late night visits with him begging her to take him back but she wouldn't and within a week he was off out with his buddies drinking too much and chatting up anything in a skirt. I know he had a fling with Rachel Henderson, I think she was probably the rebound and then he started dating Sonia Darwin an ICU nurse. I think they dated for nearly a year until he went back to San Francisco after his father died. He's engaged now, gets married next month.'

'When did you speak to him last?'

'He's in New York with Jayne, his fiancée, for a short break; we all had dinner at Caitlin's apartment last night' she paused and saw the looks on the two agents faces

Look, he helped Caitlin a lot in San Francisco and I saw him whenever I was there; the four of us have become good friends and Nick and I are Molly's godparents.'

'How would you say his relationship is with Caitlin since she moved back to New York?' Elena lent forward looking intently at Lisa.

'They have a good relationship. Caitlin moving back to New York hasn't affected her friendship with Nick and Jayne, I mean they miss her and Molly but…. ' she shrugged her shoulders

'You say he helped her a lot in San Francisco, did they start dating again?' Sam asked

'No, nothing like that. Their relationship is strictly platonic but Nick was a really good friend to her when she was having Molly and since as well. He and Jayne adore Molly; Jayne helped Caitlin with Molly a lot; when she had to work a night shift Jayne would stay over to baby sit Molly.

Sam and Elena exchanged glances before Elena asked 'And why are they in New York?'

Lisa looked uncomfortable 'That's really their business and it's not right for me to be talking about it, she paused before adding angrily, 'and I don't see what it has to do with Molly'

'This is a federal investigation Dr Randall and what is relevant and what isn't is down to us to determine, now please tell us why they are in New York' Elena sounded annoyed

Lisa sat for a moment staring angrily at Elena. When she spoke she left the two agents no doubt how she felt about answering the question; 'Jayne started having problems with her periods last year. She has undergone a number of tests and the upshot is that it is highly unlikely that she will be able to have a child. She and Nick came to New York because Professor Richard Denham practices here and he is a specialist in this area and they wanted to see if there is anything he can do.'

Elena and Sam exchanged glances once again before Sam asked; 'OK, do you know where they are staying in New York; we are going to want to talk to them'

'They are staying with relatives of Jayne's on the Upper East Side. I don't know the address but I can give you Nick's cell phone number', she scribbled it down onto a piece of paper and handed it to Elena.

Sam looked at Elena who stood up, 'I'm going to see if I can get in touch with Dr Hollander' she nodded at Sam and left the room.

Sam turned back to Lisa 'I need you to tell me about Caitlin's relationship with Danny'

Lisa looked at her suspiciously 'Why, he works with you, or at least he used to, I would have thought you know as much as I do' her voice was flat and angry sounding.

Sam looked at her for a moment and sighed 'Lisa, I found out the 'Danny' that Caitlin was dating is the same Danny that I work with about 10 minutes before we sat down with you. The one thing I can tell you about Danny is that he keeps his private life private. I've never met any of the women he has been out with and he's never spoken about them except in very abstract terms. I understand that you are suspicious but I need you to tell me about their relationship'

'Surely he would be a better person to ask or Caitlin?' Lisa still sounded unsure

'And we will talk to both of them but for now I need you to talk to me about this,' Sam looked at Lisa still seeing the anger on her face, she continued 'look Lisa, every minute counts when you are looking for a child Molly's age….' Sam sounded almost desperate in her effort to get Lisa to open up

For a moment Lisa stared at her then she nodded slightly

_Flashback to 15th February 2002_

_Lisa looked over the top of her coffee cup, her mouth hanging open in amazement 'How am just hearing this now? You meet the most drop dead gorgeous guy over a week ago and this is the first time we're talking about it?'_

_Caitlin was laughing so hard she had to put her coffee down in case it spilt, Lisa looked so offended_

'_Come on, I want to hear EVERYTHING'_

'_Oh dream on, headlines is all you get'_

_Lisa looked intently at her friend 'You're sleeping with him'_

_Caitlin didn't say anything but the smile on her face was enough proof for Lisa_

'_You are, I can tell'_

_Caitlin ignored her instead she asked 'How do you know he's 'drop dead gorgeous'? To my certain knowledge you've never laid eyes on him?'_

'_Duh…Helen told me. So come on then how many times have you seen him?'_

_Caitlin sat back, a grin on her face 'Ok, but headlines only' she warned_

'_OK, OK, get a move on!'_

'_Well, as I am sure that Helen told you, we met in Freddie's after I went in for something to eat after my shift finished on Thursday last week. He bought me dinner and we sat up and talked until it was time for my early shift to start. I met him for lunch after my shift had finished and he invited me to go dancing the next night…which we did….which was wonderful.'_

_Caitlin stopped and Lisa sat forward eagerly 'And?'_

'_And what?' Caitlin sounded innocent_

'_And AFTER the dancing, what, you're going to tell me he walked you home kissed you on the cheek and left?'_

_Caitlin laughed softly 'No, after the dancing we took a CAB home, he kissed me until I didn't know which way was up and he left on Monday morning….._

'_Seriously? Monday morning? Please tell me you spent all of Sunday in bed? Please tell me you weren't playing chequers?'_

'_OK, we weren't playing chequers'_

_The look of frustration on Lisa's face had Caitlin laughing again; 'OK, yes we spent all of Sunday in bed and beyond that you get NOTHING'_

_Lisa beamed at Caitlin 'Helen said she thought you must be getting some action at last, she said you've been in a much better mood' she saw the look on Caitlin's face and laughed 'of come on, it's about bloody time. Have you seen him since?'_

'_Only every night….except last night of course since I was on duty'_

_Lisa sat back and looked at the soft smile on Caitlin's face 'This is serious isn't it?'_

'_Oh come on, we're one week in, no-one can know that quickly….'_

_Lisa shot her a stern look and Caitlin stopped talking, a more serious expression on her face_

'_I'm terrified that I'm going to tempt fate but this does feel….different, sort of special…' she stopped and then shot Lisa a stern look of her own_

'_This goes no further OK?'_

'_Cross my heart'_

_End of flashback_

Lisa smiled at Sam; 'She had never spoken about anyone like that before. She was really, really happy with him and they were good together.'

Sam looked surprised 'Did you meet him?'

'Yes, about 3 or so months after they started dating my boyfriend and I got given 4 tickets to the opening of a new club. I asked Caitlin if she and Danny wanted to go with us. If I'm honest I was expecting her to say no but she came in the next day and said that she had asked Danny and he had said yes. That's when she told me what he did, kind of warning me that his job sometimes got in the way of nights out.' Lisa bit her lip slightly in concentration

'Anyway, he didn't have to work and the four of us went out and we had a really great night. My boyfriend at the time, Jake, was a huge Met's fan so he and Danny hit it off…..it was just a really good night.'

Lisa looked up at Sam; 'You could tell that he loved her, well, that they loved each other. They were in their own world, and when they danced together….' Lisa shook her head slightly and grinned 'well, when they danced together they were so damn hot it left me wanting to push Jake to the ground and do him right there'

Sam grinned 'That hot huh?'

Lisa smiled 'We saw them again about three weeks later. They were planning a week away, everything was great. When they got back from their break I asked Caitlin how it had been and she said it had been the best week of her life, I mean she was glowing. A couple of days later she told me Danny had asked her to think about getting a place together……….and then everything went wrong'

Sam stayed silent giving Lisa time to collect her thoughts. Lisa grimaced as she spoke

'I got a call from Caitlin late one night. She was in a terrible state; she told me that Danny had accused her of having an affair with Nick; that they had had a huge row and she had thrown him out. I went round and stayed with her' Lisa looked at Sam 'she was in a bad way. The next morning she spent an hour throwing up.'

'Morning sickness?'

'Yeh but we hadn't realised that yet. She didn't call him the next day, she figured that he would realise that it was crazy and he would call her but he didn't. The next day when she spent most of the day throwing up she discovered she was pregnant. She called him at least twice and asked him to call her but all she got was a message saying he had nothing to say to her and that as far as he was concerned it was over.'

Lisa looked at the amazement on Sam's face and smiled sadly 'I know, I didn't figure him for such a jerk either'

Sam pulled herself together 'What happened then?'

'She decided to go and see him and try and make him listen but in case he wasn't there or he wouldn't listen she wrote him a letter. She told me he wasn't in so she pushed the letter under the door. She was in a bad way over the next couple of days waiting for him to call. When it had been a week she knew he wasn't going to.'

Sam saw anger suffuse Lisa's face

'It was like someone turned a light off, she was so sad, and there was nothing I could do. When Nick offered her a chance to move she didn't even stop to pack, so I packed everything up for her and shipped it.'

The two women sat in silence until Sam spoke; 'And you said you stayed in contact with her?'

Lisa looked up, the anger had left her face and she just looked sad. 'Yes, you know, mainly phone calls and emails but we saw each other a couple of times a year when I went to San Francisco' she paused and bit her lip again before continuing, 'she was so sad. She tried to hide it, pretend everything was OK but she wasn't. You know she hasn't dated once since they split up. She say's it's because of Molly but I don't think she has really got past Danny. Molly saved her; she loves that little girl so much…'

Lisa broke down sobbing and Sam put her arms around her to comfort her 'You have to find Molly, if anything happens to her I think it will kill her'


	7. Five Hours Missing

**Meeting Room – FBI Offices, New York**

Elena watched as Martin escorted Nick Hollander and Jayne Ellsworth into the meeting room and offered them a coffee. Their clothes, their shoes and the absolutely huge, 'fuck off' diamond on Jayne's finger all shouted money to Elena but more than that she felt the air of confidence about them, a confidence that in her opinion you only saw in people who have always had money.

Her eyes turned to look at Martin; she knew his background, who didn't, but he was just Martin, a nice guy, a good agent, someone she knew would always have her back in any situation; she never really gave his background much thought, but seeing him here, with these people she was suddenly aware of it; how comfortable he was in their world, how uncomfortable she was.

Martin was smiling at them, thanking them for agreeing to come in and help them. Elena's attention though was on Jayne; her eyes were red from crying and she clutched Nick Hollander's hand as if she was scared to let go of it.

'Is there any news of Molly?' Elena studied Nick Hollander carefully as he asked about his goddaughter, watching for any of the signs she had been taught to watch for; the ones that would tell her if someone was hiding something, but he seemed to be genuinely upset.

'We have a number of lines of enquiry and we are doing everything we can to find Molly' Martin spoke confidently but Nick Hollander looked unconvinced and Jayne Ellsworth looked scared.

Elena sat forward and spoke for the first time 'Dr Hollander, Ms Ellsworth, I understand you looked after Molly for the day two days ago?'

'Yes we did', Nick Hollander had his arm around his fiancée now as the tears ran faster down her face 'Caitlin had to work and we hadn't seen Molly since they to New York moved so Caitlin let us have her for the day'

'Can you tell us about the day, what you did, where you went, if you saw anyone you thought may have been following you or acting suspiciously around you' Elena knew she was sounding hard but didn't care;

Jayne Ellsworth spoke for the first time 'I was looking after Molly, Nick had a couple of appointments in the morning so I went over to Caitlin's first thing and Molly and I played there until about 11:30. I had arranged that we would meet Nick in the park for a picnic at 12:00; Molly loves going on the bus so we took a bus uptown.'

Elena mentally raised her eyebrows at this; Jayne Ellsworth travelling by a bus ……..who'd have thought?

'Did you see anyone on the bus that matched the descriptions of Rose Henry and the skateboarder' Martin pushed the sketches toward her; his voice was kind and Jayne threw him a grateful look before answering

'No, but to be honest I wasn't looking. We were watching what was going on outside the bus and Molly always has so many questions…….' She trailed off and looked to Nick Hollander for support; he squeezed her hand before he spoke

'I was already at the picnic spot in the park when they got there; I didn't notice anyone following them'

'And where was that?' Elena interrupted

'Nick and Jayne looked at each other for a moment before he looked back at Elena 'It was next to the playground that Molly was taken from today'

A silence fell and Martin and Elena exchanged looks.

_Flashback to 30 minutes ago_

'_So they are on their way in for an interview?' Hearing that note in Jack's voice Martin could picture him at the other end of the phone, his thumb and forefinger pinching the bridge of his nose, his face screwed into an expression of frustration at the lack of progress they were making._

'_Yeh, Elena and I are going to interview them when they get here'_

'_Where is everyone else?'_

'_Sam's at the offices of HB International speaking to Lucas Tremaine' he heard an exclamation from Jack and carried on 'Yeh, I know, but guess what, he's in New York at the moment'_

'_Is he really? Tell Sam to let me know how that one goes as soon as she can; what about the rest?'_

'_Well, Viv is still chasing down all of the information we have collected so far, Danny is still in court'_

'_OK' Jack paused then, 'So what do you think?'_

_Martin sounded frustrated 'I really don't know, I mean when you mentioned the situation with her family I thought that had to be a possibility but I don't know, I mean why would they?'_

'_I know, we have to follow it up but I think that Caitlin is right, there is no reason at all for them to suddenly snatch Molly after all these years of no contact'_

'_I guess the most obvious choice is that the father has arranged to snatch her; have you managed to find out who he is? Sam said you were close but didn't get time to tell me anything more.'_

_Jack was silent for a few moments before speaking slowly 'Yeh, ordinarily I would agree with you that an absent parent would be the most obvious suspect, and with good reason, but I hope to hell that it isn't the case this time.'_

_Martin sat up slightly straighter hearing the strange note in Jack's voice 'Do you know who the father is?'_

_Jack sighed 'Well I'm waiting for DNA proof but yes, I think I know who the father is' he paused again and Martin waited, but Jack didn't speak_

'_Jack?'_

_Another pause, then, 'Its Danny'_

_Martin sat in stunned silence for a moment; Danny? Danny was Molly's father?_

'_No way, there is no way that Danny would have a child and we wouldn't know about it' Martin spoke with certainty but even as the words left his mouth a doubt was creeping into his mind, how much did he really know about Danny?_

_Jack sighed 'I know and I agree but we need to speak to Danny to clear this up and he's still in court but I would stake my life that he doesn't have anything to do with Molly's disappearance'_

'_Of course he wouldn't' Martin sounded furious 'Are you saying that Dr McCardle thinks he did?'_

'_No, in fact she is adamant that he isn't involved'_

_Martin took a deep breath trying to calm himself down, with an effort he pulled his mind back to the question of who had taken Molly_

'_So if it's not her family and it's not…not Danny who is it?'_

_Martin heard Jack half sigh, half groan 'My gut is that this is aimed at Caitlin. I know we checked at the hospital and that there were no red flags from her recent cases but who knows what sets some people off? Whoever it is must have been watching Caitlin and Molly for some time to know the playground they always go to because the distraction and the snatch were too well planned to be impromptu' _

'_So do you think they knew Caitlin's schedule or that they were following and saw their chance?' _

'_I hope it was because they knew her schedule because if that's the case the number of suspects becomes a lot shorter' Jack sounded grim_

'_How come?' Martin couldn't see how this was the case_

'_Because Caitlin was due to work a shift today but on Friday night she agreed to swap shifts with a colleague who wasn't able to get back from his holiday in time to do his first shift. She did his shift two days ago and he did hers today. I spoke to Helen Atkins and she said only a handful of people knew about the change……._

_Martin ran his hand through his hair as he tried to take all of this in; 'Elena thinks that we need to consider if Nick Hollander and Jayne Ellsworth are involved. Lisa Randall said that Jayne's just found out she can't have children and that she has always spent a lot of time with Molly, having her overnight when Dr McCardle was working, that sort of thing and that finding out she can't have children and losing Molly may have pushed her over the edge'_

'_And what do you think?'_

'_I don't know, I mean they have the money to organise something like this but why stay around after, surely if you were going to use someone else to grab her you'd do it when you were nowhere near New York so that no suspicion would fall on you?'_

_'Yeh, I'm inclined to agree, but they may have seen something, or have seen someone follow them so it's worth pursuing...OK well, got to go, we are heading over to you now for the press conference and I want a meeting of all of us beforehand so we can see where we are and decide where best to concentrate our efforts……………'_

_End of flashback_

Martin lent forward slightly 'You were at the playground two days ago?'

'Yes, it's Molly's favourite spot, she loves the sandpit so……..' Jayne's voice trailed away as she looked at the expression on Martin's face

'Did you see anyone, anyone at all that might have been watching you?' his voice sounded urgent now

Nick Hollander shook his head and looked at Jayne, she looked at Martin, a pleading look in her eyes 'No, honestly I didn't and I'm so careful with her, I didn't let her out of my sight, not for a minute'

Elena believed her but she wanted to see their reaction when she asked about...'Ms Ellsworth, can you tell us why you are in New York this week?'

Jayne Ellsworth went rigid and looked at Nick Hollander with desperate eyes. Elena saw a look of comprehension on his face rapidly replaced with anger

'Oh I get it, you think that we snatched Molly because Jayne can't have a child' his words were almost brutal

Elena saw the look of shock on Jayne's face as she frantically looked between Nick Hollander, Martin and finally at her; 'No, you couldn't think we would……..we love Molly….we love Caitlin….why would you think that?'

Martin cut across Elena before she could speak 'I'm sorry but we have to consider all possibilities and I'm sorry to have to ask you this, but if needs be would you consent to a polygraph test?'

Elena saw the anger again in Nick Hollander's eyes and the effort he made to control it but he didn't hesitate 'Yes, yes we would both take Polygraph tests'

Looking at them, Elena was sure that they were telling the truth. It didn't bring her any pleasure, it just meant that one more possible explanation was disproved and the trouble was, they were running out of suspects which meant that they were running out of ways to find Molly...

'What about Molly's father?' Nick Hollander still sounded angry

Martin and Elena glanced at each other again 'What about him?' Elena didn't make any attempt to hide the fact that she was getting angry too

'What, because he is an FBI agent he's not under suspicion but we are?' he sounded furious now.

'No; we will speak to Danny but he's been in court since 9am this morning so unless he arranged for someone to snatch her his alibi is pretty rock solid don't you think?' even Martin was starting to lose his cool.

'So what, you could imagine that Jayne and I could recruit someone to kidnap Molly but not her father?' Nick Hollander was on his feet, his face twisted in frustrated rage.

'That's not what we are saying' Martin was on his feet too; the door opened and Viv put her head into the room

'Martin, Elena, you're needed in the office'

Martin took a deep breath in an effort to calm down. When he felt he was in control again he turned to Nick and Jayne 'Do you mind waiting here? I can arrange some drinks for you'

'We're fine thank you but we would like to see Caitlin when we can please, she should have her _friends_ with her'

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

**Office of Lucas Tremaine**

Sam sat down in the chair that Lucas Tremaine indicated and tried not to stare. She knew him of course, who didn't; Roland Heatherbridge was high profile and didn't believe in doing anything that he couldn't employ someone else to do and that included speaking to the press; Lucas Tremaine was a regular face on the news commenting on a latest business venture or providing analysis of the latest political situation.

He was in his mid 50's, with a smooth well cared appearance. Too smooth, too well cared for Sam thought. She tried in vain to see some feature that showed that he was Caitlin's father but she couldn't……...

He smiled at Sam but she noticed the smile didn't reach his eyes; she guessed he wasn't going to piss off an FBI Agent until he knew what this was about; 'Thank you for agreeing to see me at such short notice Mr Tremaine'

He inclined his head graciously and waited for her to speak

'Have you seen the news today?' she decided to be blunt, she doubted he would be talking to her for long once he knew what it was about

'He raised one eyebrow in surprise 'No Ms Spade, I haven't'

'I would have thought that a man in your position would need to always know what is happening in the news Mr Tremaine'

His eyes harden although the smile stayed in place 'I have people who do that for me Ms Spade; they of course keep me updated with the information that I need to know'

'I see, so have any of them told you that your granddaughter was kidnapped from Central Park this morning?' She watched to see if she got a reaction but although the smile had now gone, he remained impassive, staring at her.

'Mr Tremaine?'

His expression was icy 'I don't have a granddaughter Ms Spade'

Sam stared at him and then reached into her bag and produced a picture of Caitlin 'Is this your daughter?'

He didn't look down and Sam could feel herself getting angry; 'Please look at the picture Mr Tremaine, is this your daughter'

He looked down and then looked back up at her 'As far as I am concerned Catherine died when she was 18; therefore, as she is dead I cannot be a grandfather'

Sam had heard a lot that had shocked or surprised her since becoming an FBI Agent but this was right up there with the best of them; she felt a surge of anger as she glared at him

'If that's all Ms Spade I am a very busy man'

'No it isn't Mr Tremaine. Did you arrange for your granddaughter to be kidnapped?'

He stared at her for what felt like forever; Sam stared back, looking him squarely in the eyes, determined not to let the bastard see how uncomfortable he had made her'

'Hmm, it seems as if time has dimmed Catherine's memory but the agreement was that no contact of any description was to exist between us.' Sam felt a shiver run down her spine, despite the almost lazily casual tone to his voice she suddenly felt chilled to the bone

'Your daughter' Sam noticed he didn't miss the emphasis she placed on this word, 'doesn't know that I am here. She is of the opinion that you have nothing to do with the kidnapping, however we would be remiss in our duties if we did not speak to everyone connected with Caitlin and Molly'

He stared impassively at her, his eyes boring into her; 'But I'm not connected to these…'people' Ms Spade as I have just explained to you'

Sam couldn't restrain a slight shiver; she didn't think she had ever met anyone so cold. She stood up 'Well thank you for your time Mr Tremaine, we may want to speak to you again about this'

The expression in his eyes changed to one of malicious enjoyment, she realised he was actually getting a kick out of this 'If you want to speak to me again Ms Spade I suggest you get a warrant' he sounded confident that she wouldn't be able to get one.

She stared at him for a moment then quickly walked to the door but turned as she reached it; he was watching her a cold, calculating look in his eyes 'For future reference its Agent Spade not Ms and if we need to interview you again we will let you know and we will expect you to make yourself available, your wife too if we deem it necessary' and with a false smile Sam quickly walked out of the office

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

**FBI Offices – New York**

Jack left Caitlin sitting in his office trying to compose herself ahead of the press conference and walked through to the office were the team had assembled.

'Right, we need to establish where we are in this case. It's 4:30pm and Molly has been missing for just under five hours now and we are getting nowhere' the frustration he was feeling showed in Jack's voice.

'As I know you know, Danny and Dr McCardle were in a relationship between February and August 2002' he paused, then holding up a piece of paper; 'I have just had the DNA results back and they confirm that Danny is Molly's father'

For a moment no one spoke

'Are we sure he knew?' Martin sounded almost angry

'Dr McCardle claims she wrote him two letters, the first was pushed under his door before she left for San Francisco, the second was sent by registered mail from San Francisco the day after Molly was born. Lisa Randall was there when she wrote both of them and saw what she wrote so we know they exist. She didn't see the first letter delivered so we have no independent proof that it was pushed under Danny's door but having spoken to Dr McCardle I believe she did deliver it. Lisa Randal took the second one to the post office. The post office has confirmed that the letter was delivered and signed for. We are waiting for a copy of the signature of the recipient'

Martin took a deep breath 'OK, but this isn't the Danny I know'

Jack nodded in agreement 'I know, it doesn't tally but until Danny finishes in court we can't ask him. I've arranged for us to be called as soon as he finishes and then one of us will need to let him know what has happened'

There was a heavy silence as everyone stared blankly at Jack then Martin spoke 'I'll do it'

'You sure?'

'Yeh, not a problem but let me have everything you've got so far so I can fill him in on what's happening, I mean, I don't want to miss an opportunity to piss him off so much he takes a swing at me' Martin sounded pretty pissed himself.

Jack shot him a half annoyed half empathetic look.

'OK, Viv, what have you got?'

'Well I've been running down work colleagues. There is only one I haven't been able to contact and that's Rachel Henderson. Apparently she and Danny dated briefly in 2001 and Danny met Dr McCardle indirectly through her. She is on holiday this week but I have the local PD checking at her apartment to see if anyone knows where she is.'

She continued; 'I've also been trying to establish who our skateboarder is. The television appeal has thrown up some names that we are running down but none look particularly promising.'

'Thanks Viv, Elena?'

'Well we know that the woman, 'Rose Henry', who snatched Molly from the park was employed in the hospital crèche under a false name. We have no bank account or credit cards. Her phone was prepaid and the only calls she made on it were to the crèche and the only calls she received were from people who worked at the crèche. She paid for the apartment in cash and didn't cash any of her pay checks so we don't have a money trail to follow. We assume that she was wearing a disguise so at the moment we are at a dead end with her.

'Martin and I have interviewed the ex boyfriend, Nick Hollander and his fiancée. We were considering them as potential suspects but neither Martin nor I believe that they are connected with this. As we finished up I asked him about his relationship with Rachel Henderson. He characterised it as a fling and he said that he wished it hadn't happened because he knew he wasn't over his break up with Caitlin at that point.'

Sam leant forward 'Did he say how Rachel took the break up?'

'I did ask and he said that she had seemed very understanding when he had explained about not being over Caitlin. But then he told me about a conversation he had with Ethan Robinson. As we know Dr Robinson is dating Rachel at the moment; well apparently Ethan has the hots for Caitlin and he had decided to finish things with Rachel. When he saw Dr Hollander two days ago he told him that he 'jumped the gun a bit' and had asked Caitlin out before he had ended things with Rachel'

Elena looked at Jack 'Ethan Robinson told Nick Hollander that he thinks that Rachel overheard him asking Caitlin out because Rachel started acting strangely but when he asked her if she was OK she said that she had some stuff going on and that she needed to sort it out and that she would call him when it was sorted.'

'When did this happen?'

'Last Friday'

Sam leaned forward 'That ties in with what Helen Atkins told me about Rachel suddenly asking for a week off' she paused then continued;

'You know, her name has come up a lot in connection with Caitlin, I mean she had a fling with Caitlin's ex boyfriend, Caitlin dated her ex boyfriend and now her current boyfriend may have asked Caitlin out'.

'So, what, she's pissed because all the men she dates prefer Caitlin to her and so to get her revenge she recruit's 'Rose Henry' to snatch Molly?'

Sam sighed, 'I know it's pretty lame but we don't have much else' she knew she was grasping at straws and from the looks on everyone's faces they thought she was as well but at this point they were all willing to go with anything.

Jack looked thoughtful 'Ok well Vivien, have a more detailed look at Rachel Henderson and see what you can find out. He looked at Sam 'How did it go with Lucas Tremaine?'

Sam scowled 'I almost want it to be him so we can nail his ass to the wall, the man is a complete bastard, cold, unfeeling...; he was almost getting a kick out of the whole thing'

Jack raised his eyebrows at Sam's outburst and she grinned weakly at him 'Hmm, well I get the distinct impression that his daughter would agree with your character assessment, but the question is do you think he had anything to do with it?'

Sam frowned slightly but shook her head; 'I honestly think he hasn't given his daughter a thought in years and I'm not convinced he even knew that Molly exists.'

Jack groaned 'This is a nightmare, we haven't even been contacted by the kidnappers and if it is personal then you would expect them to be in touch, if for no other reason than to gloat. This isn't making any sense and now we have to go and do a press conference'

He stood for a minute looking at them then seemed to make a decision; 'Right, I need the three of you to go back over everything and see if we have missed anything,' he paused,

'Martin go and find Danny, tell him everything that has happened and find out his version of events. When you bring him back here don't bring him into the office; take him upstairs to Van Doren's office, I don't want Caitlin seeing him, or him seeing her until we understand what the hell happened four years ago'

Martin stood up and left the bull pen without a word.

Jack scowled; 'Right, I'm going to speak to the press.'


	8. Danny

**US Courthouse**

Martin arrived outside the courtroom as the door opened and people began to flow out. He pushed through, hardly bothering to apologise in his haste to find Danny.

Danny was standing talking with the ADA, Hannah Standish, a well endowed, attractive blonde in her early 30's. Martin could see that Danny was turning on the charm and that it was working, ADA Standish was playing with her hair and thrusting her chest out to eye popping effect. The defence attorney was clearly smitten and was throwing envious glances at Danny.

Martin forced his way through to where Danny was standing still oblivious to Martin's presence. He smiled grimly to himself, in a huge black cloud there was a least a sliver of a silver lining for Danny; he would be spared the 'experience' that was Hannah Standish. As Martin had discovered a few weeks earlier, with ADA Standish appearances were very definitely misleading...he shuddered as he remembered how the evening had ended, it had been such a turnoff...

'Danny'

Danny looked up, surprised to see Martin standing a few feet a way. He opened his mouth to ask him what he was doing here and then closed it again; if Martin was here it must be a case and it must be urgent. His gaze shifted briefly back to Hannah Standish; he didn't know if he was bothered or not that it looked as if he was going to have to pass on her offer of a drink so she could 'de-brief him after his testimony'. She certainly wasn't subtle……….'

Martin arrived at his side and the look in his eye had Danny frowning, it _must_ be something serious…..he watched as Hannah Standish shot Martin a coy look which Martin ignored completely

'Hello Martin, I haven't seen you for a while' she purred

Danny shot Martin an incredulous look. She was _purring_ and that could only mean……

Martin ignored Hannah Standish and looked at Danny; his voice sounded strained 'We need to get going'

Danny mentally raised an eyebrow; it wasn't like Martin to ignore someone like that; normally he displayed impecable manners whatever the situation. He sent an apologetic look at Hannah Standish and followed Martin out of the courtroom.

Martin walked swiftly down the hallway, away from the crowds with Danny following; as they reached a quieter area Martin felt Danny grab his arm and turn him so they were facing each other; 'What the hell's going on?'

Martin looked around and spotted an alcove with a bench in it; it was set back from the corridor and afforded the users a degree of privacy. He started to move toward it but Danny kept hold of his arm and refused to move 'Martin, what's going on?'

Martin saw the mulish look on Danny's face and spoke quietly 'This is important Danny'. The protests died on Danny's lips and he followed Martin to stand by the bench.

Martin didn't bother with any preamble 'A three year old girl was snatched from Central Park late this morning, her name is Molly McCardle' As he watched for Danny's reaction Martin was aware he was holding his breath, hoping, praying……..

He saw Danny was staring at him blankly, trying to understand why Martin was behaving as he was then Danny spoke slowly; 'Ok, well, what does Jack need me to do?'

Martin had to make a conscious effort to breath; he knew Danny was good at his job but surely no-one was that good? OK, time for the next bombshell; 'Her mother is a Dr Caitlin McCardle…''

Now he saw the reaction….

'I know her' Danny's voice was flat, controlled, and Martin had a sudden memory of a diner in San Diego

'_Yeh, well, its all water under the bridge. You know the usual 'love of your life cheats on you with her rich, handsome very successful ex boyfriend.'_

'I know you do'

Danny looked hard at Martin, comprehension flooding his eyes 'Is my relationship with her part of this investigation?' Danny sounded dangerous now and Martin remembered another time he had heard that particular note in his voice

'_You screwed my brother'_

On that occasion Martin had had to pull Danny off the punk who had double crossed his brother in a drugs deal.

Before Martin could answer, his cell phone rang………..

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

**Press Conference – FBI Office, New York**

Caitlin stood waiting for the start of the press conference; she felt strangely disconnected from everything going on around her, as if she was hovering above the room and watching herself. She felt Jack's hand on her arm and she turned to look at him

'Remember, make eye contact with the cameras, make sure you use Molly's name as much as possible, appeal directly to whoever has taken Molly but don't threaten any reprisals and don't be afraid to show emotion.'

She nodded and then turned back to stare at the door to the pressroom, a man standing next to the door turned and nodded at Jack; she felt him place his hand on her elbow and gently move her forward.

Walking into the noise and the lights she felt as if she had run into a wall; breathing seemed difficult and her legs felt as if they were made from concrete. She could feel herself start to shake, the panic and fear that she had pushed down inside herself all day rising to the surface. She felt Jack's hand on her back 'Are you OK?' she could hear the concern in his voice; she could see a picture of Molly on the screen at the back of the room……………..she managed to draw breath and fighting hard to stay in control managed to nod her head.

Jack was concerned; he had felt her reaction when she walked into the room. He knew she was on a knife edge……….he stood in front of a battery of microphones and began to speak

Caitlin stood staring at the picture of Molly on the monitor at the back of the room as Jack spoke, telling them about Molly, where she had been taken from, when she had been taken, showing the sketches of the suspects. She felt him touch her on the arm and she realised he had finished; she stepped up to the microphones.

'I want to ask whoever has Molly to please bring her back' she heard her voice but didn't recognise it, 'I know you love Molly and will take good care of her but she needs to come home now, and I want to tell Molly that I love you sweetheart and that I can't wait to see you again….' She felt her control going and felt the tears pouring down her face as Jack gently steered her away from the microphones

'Dr McCardle is it true that you have refused to let Molly's father see her and that the FBI believe he has taken Molly because of this?'

Caitlin felt as if someone had punched her in the stomach; she stared into the melee of reporters trying to see who had asked the question, 'No…..' she felt her throat contract and no more words would come, she looked frantically at Jack

Jack stepped forward to the microphones 'We are pursuing a number of leads and at this point we won't be commenting on any of them….' But he couldn't finish before he was interrupted.

'Isn't it a conflict of interest for your team to be investigating this case Agent Malone when one of your team members, Special Agent Danny Taylor, is Molly's father?'

The room went silent; Jack knew that he had to get Caitlin out of the room…..then the silence ended as reporters began screaming questions ……

'Has he been questioned…?'

'Does he have an alibi……?'

'Is he in custody…?'

Jack grabbed Caitlin and bundled her through the door to the relative sanctuary on the other side.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

**US Courthouse**

Martin shot an apologetic look a Danny and answered his cell; 'Fitzgerald'

'Martin it's Jack, are you with Danny?'

The tone of Jack's voice told Martin that something was wrong 'Yes'

'Where are you?'

'Still at the Courthouse, what's wrong?'

'The press know that Danny is Molly's father and want to know if he's being questioned.'

'Shit'

'You need to get him back here as quickly as you can and when you get here take him to my office, not Van Doren's. I'm putting Caitlin in Van Doren's office, it's quieter and after what she's just been through she needs somewhere quiet to sit. Under no circumstances is Danny to go anywhere near her until we have sorted out exactly what happened four years ago, understand?' Before waiting to hear Martin's reply Jack continued 'And if he wont stay put then handcuff him to the fucking chair.' Jack sounded furious.

'Right' Martin ended the call and looked at Danny who was staring back at him, his face a mix of confusion and anger with a healthy dose of suspicion thrown in

'Why is my relationship with a woman I dated over four years ago part of an investigation into a missing child?' Danny didn't raise his voice but Martin could hear the anger bubbling under the surface

'I need you to tell me what happened between you and Caitlin' Martin kept his voice calm and looked Danny square in the eyes, managing not to flinch at the expression he could see there

Danny stared at him as if he grown another head or possibly a forked tail 'What do you mean 'what happened' between us; she cheated on me, I dumped her' Danny's voice sounded as harsh and angry as his words.

'Tell me how it ended, why did you think that she was cheating on you?'

Danny opened his mouth to refuse, to tell Martin to go and fuck himself but Martin spoke before he could form the words; look either you talk to me or you talk to Jack and believe me when I tell you that I would definitely opt for talking to me'

Danny sat down abruptly on the bench and rubbed his eyes. He looked up at Martin for a moment, his face impassive then indicated with his hand that Martin should sit down too.

Staring sightlessly into the distance Danny started to talk; 'We met at this diner across from the hospital one night after her shift had finished. She was stunning and I couldn't believe it when she said she would have dinner with me. We sat there in a booth at the back of the diner and we talked all night, I don't really remember what about but I know I didn't want that night to end. I asked her to go out with me on the Saturday night and we went to this club I know that plays Latin music and we danced all night. We ended up at her bed sit and that was it really, the only time we weren't together after that was when one of us was at work.'

Danny looked down at his hands and then at Martin; 'I'd never met anyone like her; she was clever, funny, beautiful…… and I fell in love with her. We had been together just over 5 months when I asked her if she wanted to get a place together. She said yes………..' Martin saw that Danny's eyes had darkened and he was frowning as he continued 'It must have been the next day that I got a phone call to tell me she was seeing her ex boyfriend. He was a Surgeon at NYU and I knew she was still friendly with him. I ignored it but I got a couple more and………….' Danny's face was twisted in pain at the memory, 'I went to the hospital to speak to her. I got there and saw her making out with him….'

Danny's hands were balled into fists, the knuckles showing white and his jaw was rigid

'She came home that night as if nothing was wrong, telling me what a bad day it had been and how tired she was and I just lost it. I must have woken up half her block yelling at her, telling her I knew what was going on. She threw me out and told me she never wanted to see me again'

Danny stared at the floor; Martin left him to his thoughts for a couple of minutes

'Are you sure she was cheating on you?'

Danny's head jerked up, a furious look on his face 'Well if I wasn't then I certainly was when she upped and moved to San Francisco with him TWO WEEKS later.'

Martin took a deep breath and feeling his way carefully 'So did you speak to her at all after you left that night?'

Danny scowled 'I got a couple of phone messages along the line of 'we need to talk' but I was too angry. I called her back and left a message telling her I didn't want to talk and that we were finished.'

'Right, you didn't get a letter from her at all?'

'Letter? No I didn't get a letter, what the hell would she write to me about?' Danny sounded scathing; Martin felt a small sense of relief, he was absolutely certain that Danny was telling the truth but…..

'And what about the following year, did you hear from her then?'

Danny's expression gave him the answer before the words left his lips 'No I didn't;' he spoke slowly enunciating each word separately.

Martin sat back aware of the churning emotions within him. He knew Danny well enough to know when he was telling the truth and Martin was absolutely sure that everything he had just heard was the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. What it didn't explain was what happened to the second letter and why Caitlin would lie about pushing the first under Danny's door…….. something Danny had said that day in San Diego sprang unbidden into his mind

'_Women are better liars…it's proven'_

Martin thought that maybe Danny had called it right in this case….

'Martin?' there was a dangerous note to Danny's voice; Martin could feel his mind scrambling….

'Martin, why does my relationship with Caitlin have anything to do with her daughter being kidnapped……………..' Danny paused and shook his head 'I didn't even know she had a daughter'

Martin took a deep breath and looked Danny in the eye 'When we were doing the background checks on Caitlin we found out that there is no father listed on Molly's birth certificate'

Danny snorted but stopped at the look on Martin's face

'We asked her who the father was and she was reluctant to say anything at first but eventually we discovered his name…' Martin paused and looked at Danny

'Nick fucking Hollander' Danny made no effort to disguise his anger

'No, no its you. You're Molly's father'


	9. The Letter

**Van Doren's Office - FBI Offices, New York**

Caitlin was still shaking when she reached Van Doren's office. Before Jack had bought her to the FBI Offices for the press conference she had changed into old battered jeans, a blue long sleeved T shirt and wrapped a Mets sweatshirt around her waist; as she curled up on Van Doran's couch Jack saw her take the sweatshirt from around her waist and clutch it to her chest like a child with a teddy bear.

An assistant arrived with some mugs of coffee; Jack waited until she had left the room before he handed Caitlin a mug and sat down next to her on the couch.

She sat and sipped the scalding hot coffee, seemingly impervious to its heat;

'How can you drink it so hot?'

She blinked as if waking from a dream and looked at Jack blankly for a moment then he saw a small smile tug at the corners of her mouth;

'When I was pregnant with Molly I read every pregnancy magazine I could lay my hands on. I remember in one it was talking about how things change once you have a baby and it gave you a set of 'exercises' to do so that you would cope once the baby arrived…..one of them was about drinking hot drinks. It said that once you have a baby you will either have to gulp it down scalding hot or stone cold, nothing in between……I hate cold coffee so I got good at drinking it hot.'

'Yeh, my wife was really into all the magazines and books with our girls'

She smiled at him 'Girls? How may?'

'Two, Hannah and Kate. They live in Chicago with their mother'

She stared at him for a long time then nodded her head slightly 'You must miss them, do you see them often?'

'I try to get out there or have them here every two to three weeks and my phone bills are sky high'

She turned her head and stared into space, he could see she was biting her bottom lip and her grip on the sweatshirt tightened. Jack sat by her side saying nothing, aware that some conflict was going on inside her head

'You see that's what I've never understood', her voice was low, hesitant, 'I understand that finding out that I was pregnant would have been a shock for him, I would even have understood if he had wanted me to have a termination but I don't understand why he just walked away.' She turned and looked at him and he could see the hurt in her eyes, 'The Danny I knew…….that I _loved_ wouldn't have done that.'

Jack put a comforting hand on her arm 'Caitlin, the Danny I know wouldn't do that either,' he paused and then speaking carefully 'Martin is with Danny now and I expect he will be back in the office soon.' He felt her arm jerk slightly under his hand and he continued quickly 'We will keep him downstairs, you don't have to see him unless you want to but we need to speak to him if we are going to understand why this has happened and we need to understand why this has happened if we are going to find Molly'

She nodded, continuing to clutch the sweatshirt to her.

Jack stood up, 'Nick and Jayne are downstairs and apparently Lisa has arrived as well, would you like me to bring them up to you'

She looked up and smiled briefly 'Yes please'

He walked to the door

'Jack', he turned to look at her, 'How did the press know about Danny?'

He frowned 'I have no idea, tell me, who knew that Danny was the father _and_ that he was a federal agent?'

She thought for a moment, 'The only people I told were Lisa, Nick and Jayne, other people would be able to guess that Danny was the father but they wouldn't have known his surname or that he worked for the FBI' She looked at him, a fierce look in her eyes 'Jack, there is no way that Lisa, Nick or Jayne would have spoken to the press.'

He nodded 'I agree' he hesitated then smiled 'I'll go and get your friends'

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**Bullpen – FBI Offices, New York**

Jack entered the bullpen and walked over to the conference table where Viv, Sam and Elena were working. They looked up

'How is she?' Viv looked concerned

'About as well as you would expect after that circus' Jack sounded as pissed as he looked, 'where are we?'

Sam picked up some papers and checked the information on it 'I've been looking more closely at Lucas Tremaine. Much as I hate the bastard I don't think he's responsible for Molly's kidnap'

Jack nodded 'Well that one always was a long shot' he stood with his hands thrust into his pockets as he stared at the boards showing the timeline and pictures of all the key people; his gaze lingered on the picture of Danny, 'Have we heard anything from Martin?'

'No, haven't you spoken to him?'

'Only to tell him that the press know that Danny is Molly's father', Jack continued to stare at the photo of Danny on the board, then turned to Sam; 'You said that the only person who knew that Danny worked for us in missing persons was Lisa Randall, right?'

'Yes, from the information we have no-one else even knew his surname'

'Nick Hollander and Jayne Ellsworth probably knew', Elena interjected

'Hmm, yes, but all of these people are Caitlin's friends, why would any of them give that information to the press when they would know how much it would upset her?' Viv was frowning, 'or are you saying that one of them isn't as much of a friend as Caitlin thinks

Jack shook his head, 'No, I spoke to Caitlin about it before I came down. She confirms that Lisa, Nick and Jayne all knew but she is adamant that none of them would speak to the press and my gut is that she is right so that means that someone else knew…'

'Rachel Henderson knew' Sam sounded excited as she grabbed a file in front of her 'she and Danny dated before he dated Caitlin, he would have told her what he does and from the dates she would have been able to work out that Danny is Molly's father'

Jack stared at her for a moment, thinking back to their discussion before the press conference. He spoke slowly, 'Hmm, you're right Sam, her name is coming up a lot in connection with Caitlin's, where have we got in a background check on her?'

Viv pulled out a file, 'Rachel Henderson, she's been working as a nurse in the ER at NYU for 8 years now. She was born in Portland, Oregon, moved to New York when she was 14 with her parents, both deceased. No brothers or sisters. It's obviously tight managing on a nurses salary but she is making ends meet, no unusual lump sum's of money being paid into her accounts or being withdrawn, her phone and credit card records show no unusual patterns of use,' Viv paused and looked at Jack, 'in fact the only thing that is unusual is that there is no change in her spending patterns or cash withdrawal yet she appears to have gone on holiday'

For a moment Jack, Sam and Elena looked blankly at Viv then Sam nodded; 'You mean if she has gone on holiday there would be a hotel booking, a plane ticket, cash withdrawn or something but there isn't'

Elena didn't want to be the one to rain on the parade but she knew that they had to consider all possibilities; 'Unless she hasn't gone on holiday, maybe she has just gone to stay with a friend somewhere not too far away, she's driven in her car and so she hasn't needed to buy a plane ticket, book a hotel room or take a lot of cash out' she looked apologetically at them, 'I mean we know the time off was very last minute and the there are problems in her relationship with Ethan Robinson, maybe she just decided to go and stay with a friend.'

The flicker of excitement died as they all acknowledged the possibility of this being the case. Sam propped her elbows on the table and rested her chin in her hands

'I know you all think I'm mad going on about Rachel so much but we know that Rachel has been dating Ethan Robinson and we know he asked Caitlin out last Friday; what if she did overhear like he suspected, what if that triggered a reaction, you know her boyfriend cheating on her.'

'Except Caitlin turned him down, in fact to quote Ethan Robinson when I spoke to him he was 'shot down in flames'' Elena groaned.

'Yes but it could just be the fact that he asked her'

'This kidnap appears to have been well planned. Rose Henry has been working in the crèche for 4 weeks. Are we saying that Rachel happens to bump into Rose over the weekend, discovers that she knows Molly and realises she is psychotic enough to kidnap her? Jack looked frustrated

Sam shrugged her shoulders 'Well I think we should investigate Rachel a little further if only because we don't have much else to go on and we should concentrate on whether she knew Rose Henry, you know, did they bump into each other in thh hospital canteen, that sort of thing'

Jack nodded 'Yeh, I agree, lets dig a deep as we can and see what what we get'

'You know Jack, we have assumed that this is personal, but maybe it isn't about Caitlin maybe it's about Molly and someone who desperately wants a child. Maybe Rose Henry just fell in love with Molly…..' Viv let her voice tail off. She knew as well as the rest of them that if that was the case then they were in trouble…..

A phone rang

'Johnson'

Viv listened intently to the person at the other end, thanked them and put the phone down 'The post office is sending over that signature' she worked rapidly on her keyboard before pushing the print button.

Jack, Sam and Elena all crowded around to see the signature; they all stared at it for a moment then Jack looked at Viv

'Get it to tech, I want it confirmed that it is a match'

Viv exchanged looks with Sam as she handed him another piece of paper 'It's a match Jack'

Jack looked grimly at the paper in his hand and looked up again at the board and the photo of Danny, he picked up his cell phone and dialled a number

'Martin, it's Jack, I need you and Danny back here NOW'

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

**US Courthouse**

Danny sat and stared at Martin as the words echoed around his head

'_No, no it's you. You're Molly's father'_

Danny felt as if everything was happening in slow motion; instead of his thoughts racing, they seemed to slow to a crawl and the sensation in the pit of his stomach….it was the feeling he got if he inadvertently missed the bottom step of the stairs, only Danny felt as if he had missed the bottom 10….

Martin said nothing; the shock on Danny's face told him everything he needed to know; Danny hadn't known anything about Molly……..Martin could feel a cold anger seeping over him. If Danny hadn't known about Molly then Caitlin had been lying to them…….

'_Women are better liars………'_

Danny tried to speak but it was taking a huge effort to get the words out of his mouth 'I don't….I don't understand…..' he looked helplessly at Martin.

'Do you want me to tell you what has happened so far?' Danny's nod gave Martin the permission he needed and he started to explain what had happened. Danny tried to listen carefully but the whole thing was surreal; he forced himself to concentrate on Martin's words……….

When Martin finished the two men sat in silence; Danny with his head resting on his hands, staring at the pillar in front of him, listening to the sound of distant footsteps echoing down rapidly emptying corridors……..

'Do you have a photo?'

Martin turned to look at Danny but Danny was still staring at the pillar. He silently reached into his pocket, pulled out a photo and handed placed it into Danny's hands

Danny sat and stared at the face of his daughter…...it was a formally posed picture; Molly was wearing a pink dress and she had a pink butterfly slide in her hair. She was smiling widely for the camera and her eyes were sparkling

'She looks just like Caitlin'

Martin looked quickly at Danny but his face was expressionless, then he looked at the photo, 'She's beautiful Danny,' he paused and looked again and smiled slightly 'she's got your eyes…………….'

Danny stood up, still staring at the photo of Molly and then carefully placed it into his jacket pocket. Without looking at Martin he spoke in a controlled voice,' Does Jack want me back at the office?'

'Yes'

'Where's Caitlin?'

Martin paused and stared at Danny until Danny turned and looked at him 'Jack doesn't want you anywhere near her until………..' Martin couldn't think of the words

'Until he's sure that I didn't kidnap Molly?' Danny couldn't be bothered to try and hide the anger he was feeling; he saw the expression in Martin's eyes change to one of frustration

'Look Danny, none of us think you had anything to do with this, no actually, we all KNOW you didn't have anything to do with this but for your sake we have to PROVE absolutely that you didn't. You know this' Martin grabbed Danny by the arm, 'Come on man, you've worked enough of these cases to know what we have to do. It sucks but we have to do it.'

Danny shook Martin's hand off his arm, trying to control the anger that was building inside of him. He took a deep breath, and another, and another ……………... He heard Martin's cell phone ring

'Fitzgerald'

Danny saw Martin's eyes widen slightly and then

'What's up?'

Danny saw Martin's face darken slightly at whatever was said to him and then, 'OK, we're on our way' and he angrily shut the phone.

Danny waited for Martin to say something but Martin was glaring at the phone as if it was somehow responsible for whatever had just been said to him

'Martin?'

'Martin took a deep breath and met Danny's eyes 'That was Jack. He wants us at the office straight away, he won't say why but it sounds major.'

Danny felt a cold hand grip his heart and tried not to think about what 'major' could mean…..

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

**FBI Offices – New York**

Martin and Danny arrived back at Federal Plaza and made their way to Jack's office. Both were aware of the looks being thrown Danny's way and Martin was relieved that Danny was not reacting to them.

Jack's office was empty and Martin could see Jack and Elena sat at the conference table. He turned to Danny 'You wait here, I'll be back in a minute' he looked at Danny again; 'and I'll bring some coffee' He saw Danny's nod of acknowledgement as he walked out and headed for Jack

Martin saw Elena look up as she saw him walking toward them and saw her eyes slide past him to glance quickly at Danny then she said something to Jack who stood up as Martin reached his side

'How is he?'

'I don't know, about how anyone would be if they had just found out they were the father of a three year old daughter and that she's been kidnapped I guess'

Jack gave him a fierce look 'Are you _certain_ that he didn't know about Molly?'

Martin was angry and it showed 'He didn't know Jack, I would stake my life on it. His reaction…Christ I've never seen him look like that…he's still trying to get his head around it.'

Martin saw a little of the tension leave Jack's shoulders as he nodded

'Jack, I think Caitlin was lying about the first letter'

Jack stared at him for a moment 'Why would she lie about it?'

'Maybe because she knew it was a shitty thing to do to him, moving clear across the country without telling him she was pregnant. If people knew she had left without telling him then it's her in the wrong but if she tells everyone that she sent a letter and that Danny didn't want to know then it makes her look like the abandoned girlfriend and Danny look like a bastard'

'Lisa Randall saw the letter the day Caitlin delivered it'

'She says she did but she's Caitlin's best friend, maybe she would lie to protect Caitlin or maybe there was a letter but Caitlin didn't deliver it'

Jack looked thoughtful 'I have to say that when she told me about the letter it struck me as the truth' he shook his head 'anyway we have more important things to talk about' he looked over to his office where he could see Danny slumped in a chair. He looked back at Martin 'you and I need to talk to Danny about Rachel Henderson.

Martin looked confused 'Why do we need to speak to Danny about Rachel Henderson?'

Jack and Elena glanced at each other and then Elena pushed two pieces of paper across the table toward Martin; 'Because Rachel Henderson seems to have been the person who signed for the recorded letter that Caitlin sent to Danny'


	10. The Red Dress

**Rachel Henderson's Apartment**

After collecting the search warrant, Sam and Vivien hurried over to Rachel's apartment. Local PD had been watching the building and they were fairly certain that no-one was there but neither woman wanted to put Molly in danger if she was; Sam knocked on the door.

'Ms Henderson, I'm here on behalf of your landlord, I need to speak with you please'; she listened carefully at the door and then knocked again, 'Ms Henderson?'

She walked back down the hall to where Viv and the other agents were waiting; 'I can't hear anything in there'

'OK, well just in case we'll go in fast'

They stood either side of the door, guns to the ready, as it opened they moved swiftly into the apartment;

'Clear'

Sam moved across the living area and into the bedroom, 'Clear'

Viv moved past her to the bathroom; 'Clear'

The two women holstered their guns; 'OK we are looking for anything that tells us the Rachel Henderson knows Rose Henry or that she is in anyway involved in the kidnap of Molly McCardle' Vivien briefed the other agents, she looked at Sam 'I hope to god we find something otherwise we're running out of suspects'

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

**Jack's Office – FBI Offices, New York**

Danny looked up as he heard the door to Jack's office open. Martin walked in holding two mugs of coffee, he placed one of them in front of Danny and took the seat next to him without speaking.

The door opened again, this time it was Jack. Danny watched him warily as he sat down and for a long moment they stared at each other

'Look I can't begin to imagine what you're going through here so I'm sorry I have to be so blunt but I need you to tell us about your relationship with Rachel Henderson' Jack's words were blunt but the tone was kind, Danny stared at him for a moment longer

'Why?'

Jack's face tightened slightly but he kept his voice even, 'Danny, I'll explain everything, I promise but I need to know about you and Rachel'

Danny scowled at Jack but Jack didn't say anything; his jaw clenched,

'I met her in a bar about 3-4 months before I met Caitlin. She was good fun, claimed that she wasn't looking for anything serious……we went back to her place and…….' Danny shrugged looking uncomfortable.

Martin and Jack stayed silent, waiting for Danny to tell them more

'The sex was OK, nothing spectacular but, you know, OK and the next morning she was really cool. Gave me her number, told me no strings but if I felt like getting together again to give her a call. A couple of nights later I called…you know, lousy day at work, needed to relax and couldn't be bothered having to go to a bar and do the whole pick up routine again.' Danny's chin was on his chest and he was clearly not enjoying re-living this

'We had a good night, she was quite good company and so I asked her out that weekend. We went for dinner and then went back to hers again but on Sunday morning I got a call and had to go to work. It was a kidnapping and we worked 72 hours straight so it was Thursday before I got around to calling her. She was great, told me it was no problem and thanked me for dinner; I felt a bit guilty so I arranged to take her out on the Friday and that's when the wheels started to come off…

'How?'

'Well dinner was OK but the more personal questions were starting, you know 'Tell me about where you grew up', 'Do you want children', that sort of thing.' Danny shrugged, 'We went back to hers again but in the morning there was something not quite right, I couldn't put my finger on it so I made an excuse and left. She called a couple of days later and I made an excuse, dodged her next two calls and she seemed to get the message. The next time I saw her was in the diner the night I met Caitlin.'

Jack looked at him steadily 'OK, and did you see her again?' he could see that Danny was looking uncomfortable

'Danny?'

Danny groaned, 'We hooked up again a few months after Caitlin left to go to San Francisco'

Jack stared at him, 'How long did it last this time?'

'A couple of weeks at most, pretty much the same pattern as before really'

'So, if it hadn't worked the first time why did you end up with her again?'

'Just stupid I guess. I was in a club and I literally bumped into her and spilled her drink down her dress. I apologised, she laughed and I bought her a drink. She told me she had been stood up, we sat and chatted. She apologised for getting too serious too quickly when she and I had hooked up in 2001 and told me some story about a bad break up just before we met. I told her no hard feelings, that I understood, she said she was sorry things hadn't worked out with Caitlin…….I don't know, it was just too easy. She came back to mine and spent the night and like I said, same cycle as before'

'When was this'

Danny stared at Jack for a moment and then shrugged his shoulders 'How the hell am I supposed to remember….maybe 6 months after Caitlin left, I'm not absolutely sure.'

'Could it have been at the start of March?'

'It could have been…….it could have been February or it could have been April; I know the weather was cold so it wasn't much later in the year than that.'

'It was March' Martin spoke for the first time. He sounded confident….

'How do _you_ know?' Martin and Jack both heard the aggression creeping into Danny's voice

'St Patrick's Day' despite the seriousness of the situation Martin was struggling to keep the smile off his face.

Danny stared at him for a minute then his face relaxed and he nodded a ghost of a smile appeared; 'Ah yes, St Patrick's Day'

Jack looked from one to the other, there was clearly a shared memory that they both found amusing but neither said anything

'Would someone care to explain?' he tried to keep his voice calm but there was a definite undertone.

The two men exchanged looks then Danny sat back slightly indicating he would leave the explanation to Martin. Martin hesitated then 'Look lets just say it was a memorable evening and I just happen to remember a conversation that we had about ex-girlfriends and the perils of not learning from past mistakes. Danny told me that he had just ended a fling he had been having wit an ex'

Martin turned to Danny; 'From what you've been saying I'm betting it was Rachel you were talking about'

Danny nodded 'It was'

'OK, so you said you went back to your place the first night, did you go to your's again?'

'Yeh, on one other occasion, why?'

'Because the post office sent a copy of the signature that signed for the letter Caitlin sent you after Molly was born. Lisa Randall took it to the post office on 4th March and it arrived on the 5th March. This is the signature…………...' Jack pushed a piece of paper across the desk toward Danny, who stared down at it, 'and this is a copy of Rachel's signature'

Jack pushed another piece of paper toward Danny; they were a perfect match.

Danny stared speechlessly at Jack, the thoughts in his head were racing ….she had tried to tell him about Molly….she had wanted him involved in their daughter's life….he'd missed over three years of his daughter's life because of that bitch, Rachel…..he heard Jack say something to him

'Sorry?'

'When you broke it off with Rachel the second time, how did she take it'

Danny forced himself to remember; 'OK I guess and in my defence I did at least explain why I didn't want to see her this time'

'Uh huh and what reason did you give?' Jack had a feeling he knew what Danny was about to say

'Told her that I wasn't ready for any sort of relationship as I wasn't really over Caitlin yet'

Danny looked at Jack to see his reaction. He appeared to be deep in thought

'Jack?'

'Did you know that Rachel had a fling with Nick Hollander after he and Caitlin broke up?'

Danny stared in amazement 'No, no I didn't'

'Well apart from the fact that the two of you have very similar taste in women, you also spin a similar line when you are breaking up with someone' Jack glanced at the confused expression on Danny's face before continuing 'You both told her you didn't want a relationship as you weren't over Caitlin……..'

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

**Rachel Henderson's Apartment **

'Anything?'

'No, you?'

'Yes, apparently I'm allergic to dust' and Sam sneezed again

Viv nodded sympathetically and handed Sam a tissue as she stared around the apartment; 'When did you say Rachel went on holiday?'

Sam consulted her notebook 'Helen Atkins said she worked the early shift yesterday and then left. She's due back next week.'

The two women regarded each other thoughtfully 'OK, so she worked yesterday, presumably came home to pack or whatever and then left either yesterday or this morning to go away' Viv spoke slowly, 'so why does this apartment look as if it hasn't been lived in for a week or more?'

Sam took another quick look around, her gaze taking in the layer of dust, the pile of unopened post and the dead and dying plants; 'I think we should get back to the office, this is getting weird'

They turned to go as Sam's cell phone rang; 'Spade'

'Hi Agent Spade, this is Helen Atkin's from the NYU ER'

'Yes, hello'

'Agent Spade I thought you should know, we have just discovered that a considerable number of prescription medications have been stolen from our Pharmacy'

A confused expression crossed Sam's face as she slowly replied; 'OK, I'm just not too sure why this is relevant?'

'Well I don't know if it is but you asked me to tell you about anything unusual that happened and losing over $200,000 worth of prescription medications is pretty unusual'

'Yeh I'm sure it is, when was this discovered'

'Within the last hour, it's part of a regular audit that happens every three months or so, usually there is a slight difference but this is huge, we've never had anything like this happen before, well not since I started at the hospital'

'OK, look sorry to be a bit dumb but how is Caitlin connected to this?'

Sam heard Helen Atkin's draw breath at the other end of the phone 'Caitlin isn't connected at all but you were asking about Rachel earlier so I thought…….maybe I shouldn't have called'

No, no, I'm glad you did' Sam sounded excited 'What does Rachel have to do with the drugs?'

'Rachel is responsible for the ordering and the stock control. Rachel is the only person who could have stolen this amount of medication without it being picked up before now'

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**Bullpen – FBI Offices, New York**

Elena looked up as Jack walked across to the conference table followed by Martin and Danny. Jack and Martin each took a seat but Danny paused staring at the notice board covered with pictures of Molly, Caitlin, the park playground, the artists sketches of Rose Henry and the skateboarder and finally a picture of Danny.

Elena walked up to him and placed her hand on his arm, 'Hey, how are you doing?'

He looked at her blankly then turned back to look at the board 'Never thought I'd see my picture up there'

Jack opened his mouth to say something as his cell phone rang

'Malone'

'Hey Sam', a pause whilst he listened, then 'you're kidding' another longer pause and then 'OK, well you and Viv get back here as quickly as you can, we need another case conference.'

Martin, Elena and Danny all looked at him as he put the phone down and shook his head 'this is getting stranger by the minute; it now appears as if Rachel Henderson hasn't lived in her apartment for over a week and has been systematically stealing drugs from the ER pharmacy'

'When you say stealing drugs, what are we talking about here, a couple of packs of codine?' Martin sounded unimpressed

'Try $200,000 worth of just about anything and everything that sells easily on the street'

'$200,000 worth…….. how did no one notice?' Elena looked astonished

Jack shrugged, 'Guess we'll find that out in due course but you realise that this probably means that her disappearance has nothing to do with Molly and is more than likely just about the drugs.'

They all looked at each other as a gloom settled over them; no-one wanted to say it, but they all knew they were running out of suspects. The silence remained unbroken for a minute or so, just the hum of the computers and the quiet talking of other agents in other teams.

'Do we know who told the press I was Molly's father'

Jack jerked his head up and looked at Danny, but Danny was staring over at the pictures being shown on one of the news stations. The sound had been muted but in rapid succession they showed a picture of Molly, the playground, the artists sketches of Rose Henry and the skateboarder, Caitlin and finally Danny……….

Jack saw Danny suddenly lean forward and stare intently at the picture they were using of him in the news report 'Jack, that picture of me, that's not an official FBI shot, that picture was taken in the street last week'

Jack stared at the picture on the screen until the shot changed to one of the reporter. He looked at Danny 'How do you know when it was taken?'

'The suit and tie I'm wearing, they're new and I've only worn them once, and that was last Thursday.'

Jack saw Martin and Elena exchange looks, then Martin stood up; his face set in a grim expression, and moved across to his phone. He dialled a number;

'Hi, it's Martin, is he there?' there was a pause then, 'Hi look, I do need that information…'

Danny, Jack and Elena all exchanged looks as Martin sat listening to someone speaking at the other end of the phone. They saw his face relax and then change to one of surprise as he wrote down the information that was being passed to him.

'Thanks, I really appreciate this', he listened again, glancing at first Danny and then Jack then 'OK, yes, I'll tell them' and put the phone down.

Jack looked at him, his eyes narrowing slightly 'You gonna tell us what that was about'

Martin was staring at his notebook but at Jack's question he looked up 'The phone call telling the news station that Danny was the father was made at 4:45pm this afternoon from a cell phone registered to a Rita Taylor. The call bounced off a tower 4 hours north of New York. The photo was received 30 minutes ago by special messenger. It was sent by Rita Taylor, and get this, it was given to the messenger service this morning at 10am with specific instructions about what time it was to be delivered.'

'Who the hell is Rita Taylor?' Jack sounded stunned but then, 'and who the hell did you get all of that information from?'

Martin had a slightly sheepish look on his face, 'My father'

'Your father?' Danny was stunned, he knew very well how much Martin hated asking his father for anything, the fact that he had done so to help him……Danny swallowed hard……..

'So how come Victor is helping us out?' the cynicism in Jacks voice was unmistakable

Martin shrugged 'He and the news station owner go back a long way. When it all kicked off earlier on I asked him to try and find out who had made the call; he wasn't keen but I convinced him to help us and I guess for once he's come through' he paused a minute then turned to Danny 'he sent his best, hopes that everything turns out OK,' and then to Jack 'he said he knows that if anyone can solve this it's you'

Jack stared at Martin for a moment then nodding his head slightly and turning back to look at Danny, 'do you know a Rita Taylor?'

Danny ran his hand through his hair in frustration as he shook his head.

'Right Elena, I need you to find out everything you can about Rita Taylor. Martin, you and Danny wait for me in my office, I need to speak to Caitlin to see if she knows who Rita Taylor is'

Danny looked up 'Jack, I need to see her'

Jack paused, then looking Danny in the eye; 'Look, I'll explain what's happened, that you never got the second letter and that you want to see her but if she says no then you have to leave it' Danny couldn't miss the warning in his voice.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

**Jack's Office**

Martin watched as Danny paced up and down and searched frantically for a safe topic of conversation that would take their minds off things just for a few minutes……problem was he couldn't think of one. He sighed and decided to plunge straight in and see what happened.

'It was Caitlin you were talking about when we were in that diner in San Diego wasn't it?'

Danny stopped pacing and frowned at him 'Huh?'

'You know, during the Patrick Kent case, after we found out about wife number two'

Danny grinned faintly 'Yes it was…….., and come to think about it Marty I never did get to hear the story about you dating two women at the same time'

Martin was relieved that Danny was sounding like Danny again so decide to go with this

'Believe me, 'disaster' is an understatement…'

'Hmmm,' Danny was happy to have his mind taken off things for the moment, 'and what about you and ADA Hannah Standish?'

Martin groaned 'you don't want to go there believe me'

Danny's eyebrows shot up 'Meaning that you have 'gone there'…..come on, details'

Martin cast him a filthy look 'All I'll say is 'baby talk''

'Danny looked confused 'Baby talk?'

'Hmm, baby talk,' Martin could see Danny was still confused, 'you know, just when you're about to…..' he pulled a face.

Danny gaped at him 'No, you mean…..when you ….ugh', he pulled a face 'Christ, what did you do, that would have put me completely off my stride'

'It did, I had to imagine…..well never mind what I imagined but it was a close run thing'

'Hmmm, now who could you be imagining I wonder' Danny smirked, 'couldn't possibly be a blonde special agent of our acquaintance could it?'

Martin grinned 'My lips are sealed'

Danny grinned 'How come you went there at all, you're not the type to go for the one night stand?'

'Well, you remember when the Goldstein case went to trial?' Danny nodded 'Well, everyone went for a drink after to celebrate when we put that bastard away for life. I had a couple then decided to head home, she left at the same time and, as I now know, lives 10 blocks from me. She asked to share a cab, I said yes, she made a move and I guess I had drunk a bit more than I thought because all of a sudden it seemed like a really good idea to go in for a 'coffee' when we got to her place'

Danny smiled 'Yeh, cabs and 'coffee' can get you into all sorts of trouble…'

_Flashback – February 11th 2002 - 1:30am _

_They were sat in the back of the cab heading to Caitlin's bed-sit. _

_They had spent the night dancing in a small club Danny knew, dancing to the Latin rhythms, their bodies getting closer and closer until they were melded together, dancing to the slower more sensuous rhythms played at the end of the evening._

_They hadn't said a word since they had got into the cab but Danny could feel the electricity between them. He turned his head to look at her; he could see that her face was still slightly flushed from the dancing. He knew that every man in that club had envied him tonight……_

_He reached out and took her hand. She turned to look at him and he kept his eyes locked on hers as he slowly raised her hand to his lips and then gently kissed her fingers; he felt her shiver and saw the heat flare in her eyes. Still keeping his eyes locked on hers, he turned her hand over so its palm was uppermost and pressed his lips to it again. This time her mouth opened slightly and he heard a soft gasp._

_He allowed her hand to fall back to the seat but kept the eye contact as he leaned toward her, his arm slipping between her back and the seat and the other arm reaching up to trace the line of her jaw._

_He saw her smile as she allowed him to pull her closer, her hand slid around his neck, moving upward to tangle in his hair as their lips moved to within millimetres of each other, all the time their eyes remained locked._

_Their lips met; the kiss was light, sensuous. He was gently exploring her mouth and feeling her explore his; for a moment they pulled apart, then with a sudden movement Danny pulled her to him so that there was no distance between them on the seat, his mouth crushing hers and feeling her arms tighten around his neck as she kissed him passionately….._

_They arrived outside Caitlin's bed-sit. Danny told himself that he didn't expect her to invite him up, after all they had only known each other for two days, and this was different, special, and he didn't want to ruin it by pushing too hard too soon…….but Christ she had him so hot….. He knew if they said goodnight here he was going to be stood under a cold shower for most of the night putting this fire out._

_She was still in his arms, their faces close. She smiled slowly as if enjoying a private joke; 'Coffee?' He knew it wasn't coffee that she was offering him……._

_They reached her bed-sit eventually after several lengthy stops on the stairs for more hot, sexy, dangerous kissing. She slid the deadlocks in place and Danny turned her to face him, pressing her against the door, their mouths locked together, his hands undoing her coat and sliding it off to reveal that dress……._

_He had been speechless when he had first seen the dress at the club that night. It was red, a halter neck line showed enough cleavage to be sexy but not enough to be too obvious, it was cut close over the hips and then the skirt flared gently to just above her knees but it was the back that had sent Danny's pulse racing. It was cut low to a point just above the cleft of her buttocks……._

_His hands slid around her waist and then roamed slowly over the exposed silky soft skin on her back. He felt her arch against him and heard her moan softly. His hand moved up to tangle in her hair and he could feel the two buttons on the halter neck of the dress….he knew that if he undid those buttons that nothing else was keeping the dress on….._

_He broke the kiss but their bodies remained pressed together. He rested his forehead against hers and for a long moment they stared into each other's eyes._

'_Look, if this is too soon, if you would rather wait…' he struggled to get the words out of his mouth_

'_Because 'people' would say we should have waited?' there was amusement in her eyes_

'_I guess so' _

'_Well rather than doing what 'people' would think is right, how about we do what we think is right for us' her lips curved into a smile and she dropped her eyes and stared at his lips for a moment before raising them and meeting his eyes again. Danny could feel the knot of anticipation in his stomach twist tighter as she continued….. _

'_Now, **I **think you should undo those buttons you've been playing with all night…' she paused for a moment and the look she gave him made Danny forget to breathe, then she continued 'but if you would rather stop now then you can always sleep on the couch………..'_

_Danny cradled her face with his hands and kissed her, his tongue lazily exploring her mouth. Without breaking the kiss he slowly moved his hands so they caressed the back of her neck and then slowly moved to the buttons...he undid the first button, paused for a moment, feeling her body arch against him and the shiver of anticipation run through her and then he slowly undid the second……..he broke the kiss, his eyes watching for her reaction, and moved his body slightly so they were no longer pressed together….her eyes were locked on his as she moved so that she was no longer leaning on the door….. and the dress fell to the ground._

_Danny felt his mouth go dry and his heart start to race even faster as he looked at her. She placed her hands on his chest and gently pushed him away so she could step past him. He turned and watched her walk slowly toward the bedroom, dressed only in a pair of red lace briefs and a pair of red high heeled shoes. When she reached the door she turned to look at him,_

'_Are you coming?'_

_Danny didn't need to be asked twice……_

_End of Flashback_

'I take it from the look on your face that your experience was a happier one than mine' Martin's words cut across Danny's memories.

Danny grinned wryly 'You take it right'.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

**Van Doren's Office**

Jack pushed open the door to Van Doren's office expecting to see Nick Hollander, Jayne Ellsworth and Lisa Randall with Caitlin; instead he saw that only Caitlin and Lisa were there.

Lisa looked up when he walked in but Caitlin didn't move; she appeared to be in the same position he had left her in, knees tucked up under her chin and the Met's sweatshirt still hugged to her like a safety blanket.

'Where are Dr Hollander and Ms Ellsworth?'

Lisa smiled at him 'Nick made a DVD for Caitlin before he came to New York with lots of clips of Molly on it. We thought that maybe it would be good for the press so Nick's gone back to Caitlin's apartment to find it and Jayne's gone to help him' she looked at Jack's face 'to be honest I think Nick just wanted to feel like he was doing something'

Jack nodded, 'Well that sort of thing can help' he looked at Caitlin and pulled up a chair and sat down. She looked at him, he could see her eyes were red and she looked as if she had been crying, but her face was composed

'I thought you might like an update'

She glanced at Lisa and then nodded quickly, a slightly fearful look showing in her eyes

'OK, well we know who tipped the press off about Danny being the father, her name is Rita Taylor'

The blank expressions on the faces of both Caitlin and Lisa told him that they too had never heard her name

'Do you have a photo?'

Jack shook his head 'No, but if we get a description I'll let you have it'

Caitlin roused herself slightly 'Anything else?' her voice broke slightly and Jack saw the clench of the jaw in an effort to stop the tears

'Yeh, we know that the letter you sent after Molly was born got to Danny's apartment but he didn't sign for it', he paused for a heartbeat, sure that what he was about to tell her was going to upset her, 'Rachel Henderson did'

He saw the amazed look on Lisa's face but Caitlin's face froze 'Rachel, what was…….oh, I see' she bit her lip and looked at Jack a question on her face.

Jack decided to jump in with both feet 'Caitlin, Martin broke the news about Molly to Danny and he is absolutely certain that he had no idea that Molly existed much less that he was her father and I have to say after seeing him I'm absolutely certain too; for whatever reason Rachel stole the letter you sent.'

'What about the letter she hand delivered?' Lisa was angry; 'he cant say that was stolen' she sounded scathing.

The cahir creaked as Jack sat back; she was right of course, there was still the first letter, but what if Martin had been right, what if Caitlin had lied about that? The chair creaked as he sat forward again and he jumped as Caitlin shot to her feet

'Where is he, is he here?' there was note of urgency in her voice

'In my office' Jack sounded cautious, not sure what to make of this

'Has he asked to see me?'

'Yes'

'Tell him to I want to see him, tell him I think I know what happened to that bloody letter…'


	11. Floorboards

**Bull pen – FBI, New York**

Elena, Sam and Viv sat around the conference table; Elena had just finished updating them on what she had discovered about Rita Taylor; precisely nothing; no credit cards, bank accounts, drivers licence or an address. They didn't even have a sketch; the courier company that she had used earlier in the day to deliver the photo of Danny to the news station had no recollection of her and security footage had only shown a figure of between 5'5'' and 5'8'' with a baseball cap and dark glasses. They hadn't been able to get a usable print.

'Alright, we need to take a step back and try to see what the information we have gathered so far is telling us' Viv sounded as frustrated as Elena and Sam were feeling. She looked up

'Should we wait for Jack, Martin and Danny?'

Elena shook her head. 'Jack is upstairs speaking to Caitlin to see if she knows Rita Taylor and he has put Danny and Martin in his office and I think he would rather Danny stay there for the moment'

Viv looked concerned 'How's he coping with all of this?'

Elena shrugged 'How can you tell with Danny? I mean he's obviously upset but I think he's still trying to take it all in'

The three women looked at each other for a moment; 'Well, best way we can help is to try and sort out what we know about Rachel Henderson, Rose Henry and Rita Taylor and try and establish if one, two or all of them were responsible for kidnapping Molly'

Sam sounded determined and she stood up and pulled a clean whiteboard toward her. She divided the board into three columns; at the top of the first column she placed the photo of Rachel, at the top of the second she placed the sketch of Rose and at the top of the third she wrote 'Rita Taylor'.

'OK, let's start writing down anything and everything we know about these women, however trivial or apparently unimportant and see if we can find a connection'

Sam turned to face Viv and Elena as she spoke but her eye was caught by movement in Jack's office; she stared as Danny and Martin hurried out of the door and headed toward the elevator………

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

**Van Doren's Office**

As they approached Van Doren's office Danny's steps faltered and stopped, a worried look on his face. He looked at Martin and opened his mouth to speak but no words would come out. Martin paused beside him, guessing at some of the thoughts that had been running through his head over the last two minutes since they had received the call from Jack…..

'_Martin, its Jack. Tell Danny to come up to Van Doren's office, Caitlin wants to see him…'_

The first expression to cross his face had been a combination of happiness and relief but that had quickly changed to apprehension and now that was supplanted with worry. Martin briefly clapped his hand on Danny shoulder

'Come on, she wouldn't have said she wants to see you if all she was going to do was hurl accusations'

Danny took a deep breath and nodded and then walked through the door…..

The first thing he noticed was that there were a lot of people in the room; there was Jack of course; next to him was a blonde woman that Danny recognised as Lisa Randall, his eyes met hers briefly; her expression was cool, watchful. His gaze continued to travel the room and he saw a tall man in his mid 30's with dark blonde hair, hand in hand with an attractive auburn haired woman. The woman regarded him cautiously, however the expression on the man's face was hostile; Danny hadn't got a good look at Nick Hollander the night he had come to the ER but he was certain that he was face to face with him now and he was damn sure that Nick Hollander hated his guts……..

However, he wasn't interested in what Nick Hollander thought about anything at the moment, all he was interested in was seeing Caitlin but she didn't appear to be in the room. His gaze swept back to Jack and he opened his mouth to ask where she was

'Hello'

He jumped slightly and swung around; she was standing behind him……….

For a long moment he stared at her hardly able to believe she was within touching distance. Her green eyes, reddened from the crying were looking at him steadily, their expression calm and the hostility he had been steeling himself to expect was absent. For a long moment they stared at each other, searching each other's eyes until Danny felt as if everyone else had faded away and it was just the two of them. He saw the expression in her eyes change; soften, as if she was feeling it too…..

The DVD box in Nick's hand hit the desk with a thud that sounded like a cannon shot in the silence of the room. Everyone jumped and looked around at him and Danny noticed that he didn't apologise and he hadn't stopped glaring at him.

Danny turned back to Caitlin 'You wanted to talk?' he tried to keep his voice steady, calm, but he was certain she had picked up on the pleading note it contained.

'Have you got your car here?'

He gaped at her for a moment and was aware that everyone else in the room was as surprised as he was by the question. He saw a slightly impatient look creep into her eyes and hurried to answer;

'No, it's in the shop' impatience changed to frustration and he turned to Martin, 'can I borrow your's?'

He saw Martin hesitate for a heartbeat, shrug his shoulders then reach into his pocket and produce his car keys 'Sure'

Danny turned back to look at Caitlin, wondering what it was all about. She had picked up her bag and slung across her body. She turned back to face him 'Come on then'

'Er, where are the two of you going?' Jack was confused.

Caitlin sighed 'Look everyone is being wonderful but I am going to go out of my head if I have to sit on a couch drinking coffee a minute frigging longer. I need to do something and as I can't find Molly…' her voice broke and she took a deep breath before continuing;

'Danny and I have a lot to sort out so rather than sit and think ……….' She stopped again, swallowed hard and looked at Danny, an unreadable look in her eyes; '….. we need to find out what happened to that letter; he needs to believe that I sent it and I need to know he was never able to read it. I think I know what happened but we can't prove it sat here'

She looked at Jack for a moment, 'I can't do anything to help you find Molly and it's killing me, I have to do something and this seems like a better 'something' than drinking endless cups of coffee'

'What do you think happened to the letter?' Martin couldn't keep the coolness out of his voice; the expression she shot him showed she'd heard it, the expression Danny shot him told him he'd heard it too……..

Caitlin turned back to Danny 'You remember the night you suggested we get a place together?'

_Flashback_

_Danny lay naked on his couch, his clothes scattered around the living room with a naked Caitlin lying half on top of him, green eyes watching him, a satisfied smile hovering on her lips._

_He roused himself sufficiently to smile at her 'That was quite a welcome home' her smile broadened slightly and she continued to watch him as she dropped her head and flicked his left nipple with her tongue. Danny felt a shiver run through him and he sent her a mock angry look; 'none of that, you've had all you're getting until I've eaten,' at the raising of her eyebrow and the smirk on her face he frowned, 'food you hussy, food!' _

_She moved slightly so that he could pull on his recently discarded boxer shorts and then watched as he wandered to the kitchen to investigate the smell of food that was assailing his senses._

'_Chilli?' He turned and grinned at her, 'you made chilli?'_

_She stood up, pulled his dress shirt on and leaving it unbuttoned except for one button half way down walked over to him with a deliberate hip swinging motion. Danny felt himself staring at her, Christ it turned him on when she did that; she stood so that their bodies were just touching, a seductive smile on her face, but Danny was wise to her now. He caught her hands before they could move and said in what he hoped was a firm tone 'Chilli first'_

_She grinned and stepped back slightly 'You must be hungry'_

'_I haven't eaten since breakfast,' then he shook his head as he continued happily, 'I can't believe you made Chilli'_

'_Why are you so surprised?' she was laughing as she piled a plate with the chilli and handed it to him_

'_You always saying that you don't have the things you need to cook with when we are here;'_

_She shrugged, 'well both kitchens are pretty awful but one day I'll have a decent kitchen and then see what I cook you!' she threw him a seductive smile over her shoulder as she cleared away some items on the kitchen counter._

_Danny watched her as he ate; that thought had just pushed it's way to the front of his mind again, the same one that had been getting louder and louder over the last month or so, he put the empty plate down….'Well, if we combined our money we could probably afford somewhere with a half decent kitchen'_

_He could feel a cold sensation in the pit of his stomach as he said the words; she was going to laugh, she was going to say no…….._

_She turned to look at him for a moment a thoughtful expression on her face; 'Well it makes sense but I'm afraid that there would have to be a condition' she looked seriously at him and Danny stared at her………….._

_She glanced around the room, 'I can't live with anyone who makes a mess like that……' a smile had broken across her face before she finished and Danny grabbed her before she could dodge out of the way. She wriggled in his grasp and freed her arms so that she could place them around his neck, smiling at him 'You serious, you really want to get a place together? _

_All of a sudden all the doubts had vanished; Danny grinned back 'I really want to get a place together' he repeated as he lowered his lips to hers feeling the heat between them…._

_She broke the kiss, gave him a wicked grin and then 'Well before we 'celebrate' I think you had better put your gun away'_

_Danny grinned, kissed her again and then grabbed his gun and handcuffs and headed for the lock box next to the door……….'Ouch'_

_He looked around at Caitlin, a little boy look on his face, wanting sympathy…..but she was grinning 'Would that be your toe meeting the hole created by the loose floor board, honey?_

_He scowled, 'Remind me, first thing tomorrow I'm speaking to the landlord about that damn floor board'_

_She smiled and walked over to where he had just locked his gun away, 'Do you need me to kiss it better' the heat in her eyes had Danny's stomach in knots and she started trailing kisses down his chest, over his stomach……….._

_Danny groaned, it might not be his toe she was kissing but he was definitely feeling better……._

_End of flashback_

Danny stared at her, 'The floorboard in front of the door was broken,' he paused staring at her and then slowly nodded his head 'you think that when you pushed the letter under the door it slipped down the gap'

'I can't think of another explanation'

Danny nodded 'OK, let's go'

The sound of Jack's cell phone stopped them before they reached the door; 'Malone'. He listened for a moment aware of all eyes being turned toward him, then 'OK, we'll be down in a minute' he put the phone down and turned to Danny and Caitlin

'NYPD have tracked down the dealer that we think Rachel was supplying with the medications she was stealing from the ER,' he paused, 'he matches the description of the skateboarder at the park this morning. They are bringing him in' he looked at Martin 'You up for this'

'Oh yeh' Martin felt more than ready

Jack turned back to look at Danny and Caitlin 'Look it will be at least 20 - 30 minutes before he is here, you head over to Danny's apartment and try and get this letter sorted, by the time you get back we should hopefully know a bit more'


	12. The Journal

**Bullpen – FBI, New York**

Jack and Martin approached the conference table; they could see Sam writing on a whiteboard, with Viv and Elena stood by her side both staring intently at what was written there. Sam looked up as they approached 'Hey, where's Danny?'

Jack and Martin exchanged glances; 'He's gone to his apartment……..with Caitlin.' Martin's tone suggested that he thought it a very bad idea and Jack shot him a half annoyed, half bemused look.

'He's gone to his apartment with Caitlin?...Why?' Viv couldn't keep the surprise out of her voice

Martin shrugged his shoulders and gestured toward Jack to indicate that Viv would be better asking him and sat down, staring at the white board, now covered in writing with circles and arrows linking information.

Jack saw the question on Viv's face and Elena and Sam's too; 'Well as much as I understood it, there appears to have been a broken floorboard at some point and it is possible that the letter slipped down under it when it was pushed under the door.', he shrugged his shoulders at the cynical expression on Martin's face.

'Will they be OK? I mean, are they talking to each other?' Viv sounded sceptical. Jack pulled a face

'They're both adults, let them deal with it in their own way, none of us knows first hand what they are going through so it's not our place to judge' Martin got the distinct impression that Jack was aiming this at him. He ignored the comment and pointed at the white board

'So where are we with this?'

Sam sighed 'Not much further really', she paused and stared at the board 'OK, we know Rachel and Rose worked in the same hospital but we don't know if they ever met, we certainly can't find any evidence that they did. Rachel hasn't been in her apartment for more than a week and we don't know where she has been staying, BUT, we do know that she knew Danny's identity so there is a possibility that she supplied this information to Rita Taylor.'

Jack interrupted, 'We had a call from the NYPD just before we came down; they have a suspect in custody that matches the description of the skateboarder; apparently he is the man who Rachel has been selling the meds through'

Sam looked excited 'So we _can_ link Rachel to Molly's kidnapping'

'Yes it appears so, he'll be here in about 10 minutes; Martin and I are going to interview him.'

Sam nodded distractedly as she added this information to the board and then stood back;

'You know this looks as if all three women are linked; Rachel knew Caitlin and has a possible motive for wanting to hurt her, she knows Danny's identity so could have given this info to Rita Taylor to give to the press and she would have known about Caitlin's change in shift so would have known when it was likely that they would go to the park. Rose Henry kidnapped Molly after getting to know her by working in the crèche and it is possible that she and Rachel could have met whilst she worked at the hospital. Rita Taylor we know nothing about other than the fact that she sent a photo of Danny to a news station an hour and a half _before_ Molly was kidnapped which proves she knew about the kidnapping and that the exposure of Danny's identity was planned before Molly was taken, and wasn't just a random act of someone who wanted to make a quick buck by selling an interesting piece of news.'

Sam paused and looked at Jack. She saw him nod his head thoughtfully then stand up. 'Good work, we still don't have a clear motive but at least we know who we are looking at for this. Keep digging on Rachel, something has to pop'

He saw another agent wave to him; 'Martin, he's here, let's go' his voice was grim.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

**FBI Offices – New York**

Danny pressed the 'B' to send the elevator to the basement where Martin's car was parked. The doors closed and Danny was suddenly very aware that they were on their own; he could feel the knot in his stomach tighten, and his tongue appeared to have glued itself to the roof of his mouth. He wanted to speak but he didn't know what to say.

He forced his eyes to move and glanced sideways at Caitlin. She was staring at the numbers as they steadily changed showing that the elevator was dropping lower and lower; he could see her hands were clenched and she was biting her lip; he knew she was aware he was looking at her because she swallowed nervously and then, as the elevator approached their destination, she suddenly turned her head and stared at him………..

The elevator stopped and the doors opened to reveal the underground parking lot; Danny indicated with his hand for Caitlin to lead the way. She jerked her head around seemingly surprised that they had reached the basement then walked through the doors and stood waiting for Danny to show the way to the car.

Danny stepped out of the elevator and walked to where she was waiting. He stood next to her, knowing that he was standing closer than he needed to, but feeling a growing desperation to bridge the emotional distance between them…….

For a moment they stood; Caitlin staring at the ground and Danny staring at her…..the moment stretched until she slowly raised her head. She was staring sightlessly across the garage and he could see the tears glistening in her eyes were starting to spill down her cheeks; it was instinct that caused him to reach for her and pull her to him; as soon as he realised what he had done he expected to feel her resist, pull away, what he didn't expect was to feel her cling to him as the tears came in earnest.

He stood stroking her hair and rocking her slightly, murmuring to her and slowly he felt the crying stop but she didn't pull away, instead she stayed in his embrace………….

'She's so small Danny, what if….' He felt her shudder

He placed his hands on either side of her face and raised it so that she was looking at him 'Jack's the best there is. If anyone can find her it will be him'. Her eyes searched his trying to see if these were just words or if he really believed what he was saying, their faces were inches apart and Danny felt an overwhelming need to kiss her, he felt himself close the distance slightly before he stopped, horrified at what he had been about to do.

He saw confusion in her eyes and then understanding as she realised what had nearly happened; he waited for the anger or revulsion but none came, instead she raised her hand and slowly traced his jaw line 'I've missed you so much'; she spoke so softly that Danny couldn't be sure he had heard right……..her hand was on the back of his neck now and she applied gentle pressure……..; their lips touched in a soft, gentle, comforting kiss before they broke apart again and stared at each other, he could see the confusion he felt mirrored in her eyes, and he felt her pull away slightly.

'We should probably go…………..' Danny heard himself speak and marvelled that his voice sounded so steady when his heart was racing and he could barely draw breath. He watched her carefully but she just nodded and turned to let him lead the way to the car……..

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

**Interview Room – FBI, New York**

Martin and Jack stood looking through the window into the interview room, looking at the man sat at the table. Jack checked the file in his hand;

'Dwayne Robbins, local small time drug dealer, hit the drug squad's radar when he suddenly began to deal in high value prescription medications in May this year. He's done a stint in juvie for theft and minor drug offences plus one 3 year stint in county jail for drug offences.'

Martin nodded, 'and apparently has now moved onto assault and conspiracy to kidnap'

Jack stared at Dwayne Robbins a moment longer, 'Right let's get this scum bag to talk'

In the room Jack took the seat opposite Robbins, Martin lent against the wall off to one side and slightly behind him.

Robbins was leaning back in his seat, a sneer on his face. Jack stared at him for a while without saying anything. After a minute the sneer started to slip and he shifted slightly in his seat. Jack leaned forward 'Where's the girl?' his voice was low but there was no mistaking the menace in it.

Robbins tried to look tough but was failing, 'Don't know what you're talking about man'

Martin moved suddenly, grabbing Robbins arm and twisting it painfully behind his back, forcing his face down onto the table 'sure about that are you?' he made no attempt to hide the aggression.

Jack moved his face so that it was level with Robbins 'The little girl you helped kidnap? She's the daughter of an FBI officer; in fact she's the daughter of a good friend of ours. Now you start talking or I'll have to let him come in here and talk to you and you really don't want me to do that.'

'Get off me, I'll have you for brutality, I'll sue your ass…..arrgghh' Martin forced his arm higher cutting Robbins off. 'Start talking you piece of scum or I'll twist your damn arm off'

'OK, OK……' All trace of the sneer had left Robbins now

Jack looked at him for a moment longer, 'Right, I'll ask Agent Fitzgerald to let go of your arm but know this, you jerk us around and not only will I happily let him take hold of your arm again, I'll hold you down while he snaps it off at the shoulder.'

Martin let go and stood back, Robbins sat up, all trace of bravado gone, 'What do you want to know?'

'Where is the girl?'

Robbins looked scared now 'I don't know man, I really don't know. I gave Rita my car but she didn't say where she was going, all she said was that she was going to take the kid to 'where it all started' so she understood 'where she came from.''

'OK, how do you know Rita Taylor?'

Robbins stared at Jack, surprise showing on his face, 'She's been my supplier for the drugs, I thought you knew that.'

Jack and Martin exchanged looks; Martin stepped forward and put the photo of Rachel and the sketch of Rose on the table; 'tell me about these women'

Robbins pushed the photo of Rachel toward Jack 'Don't know her, but the other is Rita, well Rita once she's put the wig on and the contacts, she used the name Rose Henry, said that she had a job that got her close to the kid so that the kid would know her when she took her'

Jack pushed the photo of Rachel back toward him 'and you don't know her?'

'No, never seen her'

'Have you heard the name Rachel Henderson?'

'No'

'OK, well, where does Rita live?'

'I never went to her apartment,' his face changed as he saw Martin start to advance toward him menacingly, 'but I did follow her one time, I wanted to know where she lived. Can't tell you which apartment she lives in but I know the block'

'Let's have that then……'

**Danny's Apartment**

Caitlin stepped through the door into Danny's apartment. She looked around noticing that it looked pretty much as it had done four years ago. She took a deep breath and walked forward and turned to look at Danny; he was staring down at the floorboard, a strange look on his face.

'You OK?'

His head jerked up and he looked at her warily, not that she could blame him; it was the first time she had spoken since they had left the car park. She guessed he was worried about the kiss, thinking that she was angry with him. She wished she could find the words to try and explain that she wasn't upset about the kiss, that she just needed time to try and understand how, when she hadn't seen him for four years, it felt so natural to be stood here with him now, why all she wanted to do was to curl up in his arms because when his arms had gone around her she had realised it was the first time she had felt any comfort since Molly had disappeared this morning.

He looked down at the floor again and prodded the floorboard with his foot; 'I'll get a screwdriver.' He was still looking down at the floorboard and missed the stunned look that appeared on her face; Danny, using a screwdriver? As many talents and skills as the guy had Caitlin had never counted DIY amongst them. She tried to wipe the surprise off her face but obviously hadn't been as successful as she would have liked because when he glanced up she saw a slightly defensive look creep into his eyes

'Something to say?' he sounded as if he was expecting her to laugh and she had to admit she was struggling not to.

'No, no, not at all, erm………,' she couldn't wipe the grin off her face and could see a wry smile forming on his lips, 'it's just the thought that you even own a screwdriver is a pretty big leap..'; she bit her lip to stop the laughter

He scowled but she could tell he wasn't serious 'Well I do' and he walked over to the cupboard, reached inside and took out a small tool box. Refusing to look at her he crossed to the floorboard and unscrewed it. For a second he hesitated……

'Go on, let's see what we find' her voice sounded calm but her heart was racing……..

He pulled the floorboard up and using the torch in the toolkit shone the light down into the cavity below, she heard his breath catch and he reached down……………..he sat back up and she could see he was holding an envelope.

He silently handed it to her and she looked at the message she had written on the front of the envelope;

'_Danny, please, please read this'_

He finished screwing the board back in place and stood up, brushing the dust off his suit. He stood staring at her for a moment then sat down next to her on the couch.

'Do you want to rip it up or do you want me to read it?

She looked at him quickly, unsure what to think. She searched his eyes for a clue about how he was feeling but they were guarded; she dropped her eyes back down to stare at the envelope then looked back up at him

'It's up to you; if you want to read it go ahead, if you don't then that's fine too'

She held it toward him and she saw him hesitate then take it. He turned it over in his hand and looked at what she had written on the envelope. She saw him swallow hard and then quickly rip it open; she knew what he was reading, she still remembered every word…

_Danny_

_I don't know how to start this letter...this the fifth attempt; the others are all in the trash because when I read them back it sounds as if I am trying to write a crappy romance novel….._

_So let me start by saying you are a total bastard. How dare you think that I would EVER cheat on you? I don't care what you think you saw or what you think you heard, the person you should trust is ME and I'm telling you that since we met, the only man I've been with, the only man I want, is you; you, and no-one but you._

_I've never loved anyone like I love you and I never will. If you can't see that, if some pathetic insecurities from your past are more real than my telling you that I love you over and over again then I don't know what else I can do to convince you. But we can try this one on for size if you like….._

_I'm pregnant….yes, read that again, I'm pregnant. By my reckoning the baby will be due at the beginning of March and yes, I am keeping it. We talked about termination once, do you remember? You asked me what I thought and I told you I thought it was an individual decision but I didn't think I could ever kill a child growing inside of me; turns out I was right, because I can't kill our child._

_Danny, I love you, please, please, call me so that we can work this out. _

_If I haven't heard from you within a week then I'll take it that you are happy to throw away what we have and that you don't want to be a part of your child's life, which would be a shame because I think we could be terrific parents…._

_I love you_

_Caitlin_

She jumped up and walked over to the window and stood staring out at nothing in particular while he read the letter, thoughts racing through her mind……………he hadn't known about Molly. She run away, moved across the country because she had thought he didn't care, hadn't wanted to know his child and now………………the anger that she had clung to for four years was gone leaving her with an almost unbearable sense of sadness…………..

'I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry'; she turned to look at him, the raw agony in his voice shocked her as much as the pain showing on his face; 'I should have listened to you, I should………….

She crossed the floor, falling to her knees in front of him, grabbing his hands; 'no, no; Danny, _I'm_ sorry, I shouldn't have left you like that, I ran away like a child and _I_ shouldn't have done that.'

They both stared at each other; she gripped his hands tightly for a moment then moved back and gave him a half smile;

'You know I think we should leave this competition we have going about who is the sorrier until after we have Molly back, don't you? She tried to keep her voice light but she heard the tremble at the end and knew he did too.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

**Rita Taylor's Apartment**

Sam stared around the apartment. It was a bed sit really, one room that had a kitchenette, a sofa come bed, a desk, a bookcase and a TV in it. There were two doors, one led to a cupboard that housed Rita's clothes and the other led to a minute bathroom.

'Right, we need to go through everything, Sam you start with the closet, Martin you look in the desk, I'll start with the bookcase' Jack sounded grim and Sam hurried to the cupboard and began to look through it.

There weren't many clothes to look through, it appeared as if Rita had packed most of them judging by the number of empty hangers she could see, but at the back…….' Jack,………Jack'

Jack appeared next to her 'What you got?'

Sam pulled out a nurse's uniform; the cleaning label on the collar read 'R Henderson'.

'Rachel must have been here; maybe this is where she has been staying'

Jack glanced around the bed sit 'Hardly room for one, never mind two people here and the bed's really a slightly oversized single; where'd she sleep?'

'Maybe she had given up on men and decided to try something different' Martin straightened up from searching the desk.

'What, like women?' Jack stared at him for a moment and then looked at Sam

'What do you think?'

Sam shrugged her shoulders 'Well anything is possible but from everything we have heard about Rachel she was a serial dater, going from one boyfriend to the next. I mean she was still officially dating Ethan Robinson so it doesn't seem likely that she would suddenly take up with a woman.'

She looked at Martin to get his reaction but he had dropped to his knees and was feeling in the knee well of the desk 'Got something'. Sam heard a sudden ripping sound and Martin pulled out a notebook.

He sat back on his heels and stared at the front cover

'_Rachel Henderson'_

He glanced up at Jack and Sam both of whom were staring down at the notebook, 'What's in it?'

Martin opened the first page and read the words out loud

_2nd May 2006_

_HA told us that she's coming back, that she's got an Attending's post with us. She starts next week apparently. I wonder if she has ever told him about Molly or if when he didn't get in touch after she sent those photos she thought he didn't want to know. It should have been him and me, I would never have left him to move across the country like that, I should have been Molly's mother, I should have been Danny's wife. If it hadn't have been for her Danny would have realised that he loves me; he came to the diner that night to see me and she stole him from me, and now shes coming back. Well she can't have him, she's had her chance._

Martin stood up. 'She sounds deranged' Sam sounded horrified; Martin started to flick through the pages 'Christ…….'

'What?' Jack's head had jerked around to look at Martin at the note in his voice

Martin was staring at the page, disbelief on his face. He finished reading and looked up at Jack and Sam 'Listen to this' he read aloud again

_8th May 2006 _

_I hate how everyone likes her, everyone thinks she is so wonderful, so bloody perfect. I heard her talking to HA. HA was asking if Danny was Molly's father and she said that Molly doesn't have a father….yes he does you bitch and she should have a proper mother too, and I'm going to make sure that she gets them. The drugs audit was done today, everyone saying how wonderful I am because in the two years I've looked after them we have never been close to the margin of error and it made me think; they won't do another audit until August at the earliest and a lot of those drugs would sell for a lot of money. I can sell them, I can use the money so that Molly and I can start over somewhere, she should be with her real mother, not that whore and then Danny can see his daughter, Danny and I can be together. I've got until August, I need to plan this carefully._

'Rachel planned it all' Sam sat down on the arm of the sofa shaking her head. She looked up at Jack 'do you think she really believes that she is Molly's mother'

'It looks that way,' Jack turned to Martin, 'does she say anywhere in there about how she involved Rita Taylor in this?' Jack stared at the expression on Martin's face, 'what?'

Martin swallowed and then looked up at Jack and Sam 'Yes it does, it seems that Rita Taylor and Rachel Henderson are the same person'

It was Jack's turn to sit down now as he stared speechlessly at Martin

'But that means that Rachel and Rose are the same person too' Sam sounded shocked 'how can that be, how can she have been working in the crèche and in the ER…….' Sam's voice trailed away and she groaned 'Of course, Helen Atkins said she had just worked a month of night shifts so she would have been able to work in the crèche during the day'

Jack shook his head 'Why didn't we see this? Why didn't we see that the sketch of Rose Henry and the photo of Rachel were the same person?'

'A good disguise; she changed her hair, the colour of her eyes and her skin tone, we only had a sketch of Rose so we couldn't do facial recognition' Sam sounded frustrated

Whilst she and Jack had been talking Martin had continued to flick rapidly through the notebook 'Look I've only skimmed this quickly but from what I can see she decided to use the name Rita Taylor because the first night she and Danny met he mis-heard her name and thought she had said Rita, and Taylor, well that's for obvious reasons' Martin turned a page and continued

'She is sounding seriously unstable toward the end of this 'journal'; she is convinced that Molly is her daughter and that Danny has asked her to get Molly back and to take her to 'where it all started so that Molly knows where she came from'' Martin looked up at Jack 'Isn't that what Robbins said she had told him too?'

'Yes it is but god alone knows what it means' Jack stood up, 'we need to get back to the office and see if it means anything to Danny or Caitlin' he turned to walk to the door but stopped as Sam called to him

'What?'

'We've been assuming that the kidnappers would get in touch with Caitlin but I don't think Rachel will want to speak to Caitlin, I think she will get in touch with Danny………….'


	13. Late Night Conversations

**Bullpen - FBI, New York**

Jack, Martin and Sam arrived back from searching 'Rita's' apartment and went to find Viv and Elena. They found them with Mac in the tech office, checking Danny's emails.

'Anything?'

Viv turned at Jack's question, 'Oh yes, he received an email from 'Rita' two hours ago, you want to see?'

'Yep'

A few rapid key strokes and an email appeared on the screen

_My darling Danny_

_I know you will be worried but you don't need to be. Molly will be OK now she is being looked after by her real mother. I am taking her to see where she comes from; I know she will love it as much as we do._

_I know you will want to join us but you need to wait for a while until all the fuss has died down but I will contact you again soon. _

_See you very soon my darling_

_Rita_

'The woman is a certified fruit loop; how can she work in a hospital and no-one have noticed?' Martin sounded angry

'What's going on?'

Everyone turned; Danny and Caitlin were standing in the door; they both looked pale and Martin noticed that Danny had his arm loosely around Caitlin's shoulders and that Caitlin was staying close to him.

'You've received an email' Martin indicated toward the screen. Danny and Caitlin both read the words, confusion on their faces.'

'I'm sorry, I don't understand' Caitlin voice shook and Danny tightened his arm around her as he looked questioningly at Jack.

Jack indicated toward the bullpen 'why don't we all go through to the conference table and I'll explain everything'

'Do you know where she is?' Caitlin sounded frantic.

'No, not yet but we are hoping you can help us with that; let's go through'

Everyone settled around the table; Caitlin was clutching Danny's hand as she stared at Jack.

'OK, we have discovered that Rachel Henderson took Molly', Jack saw the shock in Danny and Caitlin's eyes

'But, you showed me a sketch of the woman who took Molly, it wasn't Rachel, I would have recognised her' Caitlin sounded shaken

'It turns out that it was Rachel but she was well disguised. She has been living a triple life for the last few months. She stole the medications from the pharmacy to pay for a new life with Molly; she used an alias, Rita Taylor, to sell the drugs to a dealer and then she became Rose Henry so that she could work at the crèche and get to know Molly' Jack watched the expressions on Danny's and Caitlin's faces; Caitlin looked as if she was having trouble taking it all in;

Danny leant forward, 'But Jack, she started stealing drugs in May. Are you saying she has been planning this since then?

Jack indicated toward Martin who placed the notebook on the table and pushed it toward Danny; 'we found a sort of journal. It shows that Caitlin coming back to NYU seems to have unbalanced her and triggered an obsession with you and Molly.'

Caitlin and Danny stared at each other for a moment then Danny turned back to Martin. He opened his mouth to ask a question but appeared to be struggling to find the words he wanted; Martin indicated the notebook, 'it shows that she persuaded herself that she was Molly's real mother,' he saw a look of agony on Caitlin's face; Danny pulled her to him.

He continued 'she started planning in May which is also when she started stealing the drugs and she had the whole plan nailed down by early June.'

'Caitlin' Martin spoke gently and he saw Jack throw him a warning look; she looked up at him, her face drawn. He indicated the note book on the table in front of her and Danny, and pushed a copy of the email toward them too.

'In the notebook she writes that she is going to take Molly to '_where it all started so that Molly knows where she came from'_ and in the email she writes _I am taking her to see where she comes from; I know she will love it as much as we do_'

Martin looked at Caitlin, 'we need your help to try and work out what this means. We know that when she called the news station she was four hours north of New York so we know she's heading north but we don't know where exactly. The email came from the same place so that's no help. Do you have any idea at all?'

Caitlin stared at him, her face blank, then she turned to Danny; ''_I know she will love it as much as we do_?'; that sound like she's referring to a place the two of you went to' there was no accusation in her tone just confusion

'We didn't _go_ _anywhere_ together; I mean we had dinner a couple of times and we met in a bar the first time and a club the second but really the only places we went together were our apartments and neither of those is 4 hours north of the city!' Danny sounded frustrated and Martin saw Caitlin's hand tighten in his as if she was trying to comfort him.

'OK, but how about '_I am taking her to see where she comes from' _and that she is going to take Molly to '_where it all started so that Molly knows where she came from'_?' Martin kept his voice calm, almost soothing, sensing that it wouldn't take much to push Caitlin over the edge at the moment.

''_Where she comes from'; _OK, well she was born in San Francisco but she's not heading there if she's going north' Martin could tell that Caitlin was struggling hard to come up with something and so stayed silent while she searched her memory for something, anything that would help………

He saw the expression on her face change, as if she was remembering something; she looked at him with a far away look in her eye; 'I am remembering this right aren't I; someone did say that Rachel overheard Ethan ask me out on Friday night?'

Elena leant forward; 'Ethan thinks she did, from the way she was behaving and something she said to him; why?'

'Because the only way she could have overheard us is if she was in the store cupboard in Trauma 1. The only way out is through the room and so if she was in the store cupboard when Ethan was talking to me then she would have still been there when Rachel and I were talking………….'

_Flashback to Friday night, 11:35pm – NYU ER Dept_

'…_..so I was wondering if you fancied coming with me? The band is excellent and there's this very nice hotel not far from there…………' Ethan Robinson was working a well practised routine; one that invariably got him what he wanted. He knew women just loved the arrogance of his 'assuming' they would sleep with him on the first date. Most immediately claimed that they were 'not that sort of girl' and he would then look horrified and apologise, then assure them that he should have made it clear that he meant separate hotel rooms. That usually did it; they felt guilty for 'misjudging' him, agreed to go out with him and by the time they got to the hotel they had usually dropped any inhibitions about sleeping with him on the first date. _

_Caitlin looked up from the case file she was reviewing and sighed; did he really think that was going to work, and come to think of it, wasn't he supposed to be dating Rachel?_

'_Oh that sounds great' she saw the glint in his eye as he completely missed the sarcasm in her voice, 'and I assume that Rachel won't mind, or were you thinking of bringing her along as well so we could have a threesome after, or perhaps you prefer to watch a little 'girl on girl' action?'_

_She kept a straight face as she looked enquiringly at him, seeing the first hint of doubt begin to cross his face; 'er……….well' he looked confused, not sure if she was serious or not; 'well, I won't lie, the thought of two lovely ladies fighting over me is always a turn on…….'_

_His voice trailed away at the end as he registered the utter contempt showing on her face_

'_Listen you self important bag of shit; the fact that you cheat on your girlfriend comes as no great surprise; however, the fact that you think that I would **help** you cheat on her just shows me that you have the intelligence of the slug you so closely resemble, and you are absolutely no judge of character;' she saw him open his mouth but continued before he could say anything, 'and in case that doesn't make it crystal clear to you, that means that you can take your offer of a date and shove it where the sun doesn't shine.'_

_With that Caitlin turned back to her reports; after a moment she heard the door open and then close and breathed a sigh of relief. Picking up the next file she heard the door open again and swung around………..;'Can't you take a hint you…….' she stopped and started to laugh as she saw Lisa Randall stood in the doorway looking very confused._

_Lisa advanced into the room a bemused look on her face 'A hint about what?' she was grinning at Caitlin. Caitlin did a mock theatrical groan;_

'_I thought you were Ethan back to try again'_

_The smile in Lisa's face turned into a Cheshire cat grin 'Oh don't tell me he asked you out?'_

_The look Caitlin shot her supplied the answer to that question_

'_and you told him to………………?'_

'_Yes, I told him to……………..' Caitlin was grinning now, seeing the funny side of it. 'Anyway, what are you doing down here, no-one's called for a paediatric consult have they?'_

'_Ah no, I need to ask you a question'_

'_And you didn't want to use the phone; you wanted to come down 10 stories and run the risk of being grabbed by an anxious med student who can't recognise tonsillitis when it presents itself to them?_

_Lisa just grinned; 'Hmm, yes, when you put it like that…..but as I'm here is it OK if I just ask you face to face?'_

_Caitlin waved her hand at the seat next to her and Lisa sat down, the laughter on her face being replaced with a cautious look that had Caitlin wondering what on earth this was about……._

'_Do you remember the hotel you and Danny stayed at when you went away that time?'_

_Caitlin felt a shock run through her at the mention of his name and she sat perfectly still looking at Lisa who was watching her carefully. Caitlin forced herself to breathe slowly and felt the tension in her limbs ease;_

'_Sure, the Northwood Lodges Hotel. What about it?'_

_She saw Lisa breathe again and send her a weak smile, 'Well that was it really, the name, I couldn't remember it and Wes has asked me to go away for a week with him and I remembered how you said it was absolutely wonderful, so I thought I'd ask you…………' she stopped aware she was rambling in her relief that Caitlin hadn't reacted too badly to hearing Danny's name._

_Caitlin smiled. She hadn't missed the slight blush on Lisa's cheeks when she had told her that Wes wanted them to go away for a week; Caitlin knew that Lisa was falling hard this time; 'Am I always so fierce when his name comes up?'_

'_Well you know, it depends upon your definition of fierce really………….' Lisa shot her friend a grin_

_Caitlin nodded then smiled again and then, in a mock 'motherly' tone; 'now make sure that you are careful unless you want to be blessed with a 'Molly' too!'_

_Lisa looked at her in surprise, 'seriously, you reckon that's were she was conceived?'_

'_Yeh, I mean I can't be 100 percent certain but the dates all fit and I'd like to think that she got her start in life somewhere that Danny and I loved as much as we loved that hotel'; she grinned, 'and I'd far rather show her The Northwood Lodges Hotel and tell her 'that's were you come from' rather than have to point out a tatty bed sit or a run down apartment block!'_

_They were both laughing as Helen Atkins put her head around the door 'Hi, we've got a RTA 2 minutes out, two adults one who appears to have suffered an MI, both with cuts and bruises, and a child aged approximately 2 years old. The child was in the car seat and doesn't appear to have suffered any injuries.' She shot back out of the door_

'_Well, as you're here, do you fancy looking over the child for me Dr Randall?'_

_Lisa smiled 'my pleasure Dr McCardle……..'_

_End of flashback_

Martin swung excitedly to look at Danny, 'OK, so we know where the phone call was made from, does that tie in with the location of the hotel?'

Danny stared at him for a moment as he struggled to get his head around what he had just heard; Martin's question filtered slowly through and he looked over at the map on one of the white boards; 'the hotel is about 30 minutes further north'

'Do you think that's where she is?' Danny turned to look at Caitlin, hardly recognising her voice. Before he could answer Jack started issuing orders;

'Right we need to find out if she is at the hotel. Viv get on to the local PD and get them to go and speak to the hotel staff,' he held his hand up before Danny could speak, 'I don't want to fax through pictures or have the hotel staff try and check this out and potentially spook Rachel/ Rita,…………...whatever she's calling herself. It's late so we can assume that they have probably gone to bed for the night which means that they aren't going anywhere before tomorrow morning and we'll be there before then.'

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

**Van Doren's Office**

Caitlin pushed the door open and walked into the office; Lisa, Nick and Jayne all looked up and then jumped to their feet when they saw her.

Lisa put her arms around her; 'Have they found her?'

'They might have……….,' Caitlin hugged Lisa and then stepped back, 'it was Rachel…..Rachel snatched her'

The room was silent for a moment as they all took in what Caitlin was saying.

'Rachel, _Rachel?_...why, why would she snatch Molly?'

'Apparently she hated me, was obsessed with Danny and convinced herself that she is Molly's real mother…' Caitlin shook her head still struggling to believe what was happening, 'she wrote something about taking Molly to 'where she comes from' and 'where it started' they are just checking to see if it's a reference to the Northwood Lodges Hotel'

Lisa jerked her head up 'Why would she take Molly there?'

'It looks as if she overheard Ethan ask me out on Friday; if she did them she heard us taking as well…………….' Caitlin looked helplessly at Lisa who looked horrified.

Nick was scowling 'So she's obsessed with that jerk and that's why she took Molly…' before he could continue Caitlin cut across him

'No, she took Molly because she's sick, she hates me and because she's obsessed with Danny. It's no more his fault than it is mine, or yours, and just so you know, he didn't get the first letter, it was under the floorboards so try and understand how he must be feeling at the moment..' she was furious and it showed in the anger flashing in her eyes and the raised voice. Before she could continue she saw Nick's stunned gaze slide past to look behind her. She turned around.

Danny stood in the door, a strange look in his eye. She forgot all about Nick and stared at him, unable to speak

'Rachel's at the hotel, Molly's with her' he reached for Caitlin and she threw her arms around him; out of the corner of his eye he saw Nick's face tighten in anger and Jayne lay a warning hand on his arm.

Caitlin stepped back 'What happens now?'

'We will take the helicopter up, check out the lie of the land and once we know where Molly is we can work out the safest way to get her out,' he looked at Caitlin, 'look usually the family doesn't come along with us, they travel separately and wait away from the scene, BUT,' he cut across Caitlin, Lisa and Nick all of whom were about to protest, 'I've persuaded Jack to let us both go along but only on the understanding that we both do exactly as we are told'

Caitlin nodded, the emotion starting to overwhelm her. Danny steered her toward the door; before they reached the door Nick stepped forward and blocked their path;

'Thanks for taking care of Caitlin' he held out his hand toward Danny, his expression wary, as if he was expecting him to throw a punch.

Danny paused for a moment then took his hand and nodded, too choked with everything that was happening to be able to speak.

Nick handed him a DVD box 'you might like to see this' and then he stepped back so that Danny and Caitlin could leave

Caitlin smiled at them all through the tears in her eyes 'We'll call as soon as we know anything……………'


	14. Moving Forward

**Northwood Lodges Hotel – 12:55am**

Caitlin sat on the double lounger on the deck at the back of the cabin and stared into the blackness. She couldn't ever remember feeling so tired yet not be able to close her eyes and sleep, so terrified was she of the images that would dance through her mind if she relinquished control.

Since the moment in Van Doren's office when Danny told her they had found Molly, she had been gripped by a strange mixture of elation and fear; elation that they knew where Molly was, that she would see her, hold her, again soon and terror of what could happen to stop that.

During the helicopter journey up here she had sat with her hand in Danny's, her eyes closed, not wanting to talk, just wanting to think, but even over the noise of the rotor blades she had overheard snatches of the conversation between Martin and Danny and she knew that neither expected it to be easy to get Molly back; the words 'gun' and 'knife' had come up a few times………

At the hotel she had been left in the car when Jack had been consulting with the Manager and the local PD but Danny had been allowed to join that conversation; she had watched through the window and was sure that he was unhappy about something until she saw Martin place a hand on his arm and speak to him urgently, after that Danny had seemed calmer.

Danny had disappeared with Martin and Jack, and Sam had come to the car to get her, telling her that one of the lodge's, well away from where Rachel and Molly were staying, was vacant and it had been made available to them; it had been Sam who had explained that they were going to wait until morning before they attempted to get Molly back. Caitlin hadn't understood this; surely if Rachel was asleep that was the best time to go in and get Molly? But no, apparently Rachel had told someone at the hotel that she didn't need the crib because Molly would be sharing the bed with her……………..Caitlin felt her insides twist in anger at this news, and so they couldn't risk going in now. Sam hadn't elaborated but Caitlin didn't need her to, her overactive imagination could fill in the blanks easily enough.

Inside the lodge Caitlin found it was as she remembered from when she and Danny had spent a week here over four years ago; a living room with a large fireplace, a comfortable couch and a couple of chairs, a TV with a VCR and DVD player and a hi-fi system. There was even a small kitchen area. Off the living room was the bedroom, with it's king sized double bed and the double doors out onto the private decked area with its table and chairs and the double lounger…….. and off the bedroom was the bathroom………..the bathroom with the very large shower and the whirlpool bath……….even as thoughts of Molly consumed her Caitlin smiled slightly……..that had been a very good week.

Sam had suggested that she lie down but she couldn't, instead she had paced around, picking things up and putting them down again. As she made what must have been her 50th circuit she had glanced at Sam and seen the worry and helplessness on her face as she watched her pacing and she knew she needed to get out, be on her own, at least until Danny got back from wherever he was. She knew her explanation to Sam had been garbled but she hadn't tried to stop her so she had headed for the bedroom, opened the double doors and curled up on the lounger on the deck.

She didn't know how long she had been sitting here but she was aware that she was feeling cold. There were blankets in the cupboard in the bedroom but she couldn't be bothered getting up, instead she untied the sweatshirt from around her waist and pulled it on……..

A noise made her turn her head and she saw Danny stood at the double doors from the bedroom, he looked hesitant as if he wasn't entirely sure of his welcome……….

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Danny had listened as Jack explained that they had decided not to try and get Molly back before the morning; part of him knew why, knew it was the right thing to do but there was the other part of him, the part that had learned only a few hours ago that Molly was his daughter, the part that was terrified of what might happen and that he would never know get to know her, that wasn't happy about it at all. Martin had calmed him down, got him thinking like an FBI Agent again…..

Jack had taken him to where they had set up an observation point to watch the lodge, explaining the plan to him in detail. Danny knew that Jack guessed that the more he told Danny the better able he would be to stand back when the time came and not try and get involved.

Eventually, when Jack had answered all of Danny's questions he had been persuaded to come to the lodge to wait until morning. Sam had told him where Caitlin was and now here he was staring at her, not knowing what to say or do……..

She turned her head and stared at him for a moment, then slid over on the lounger to make room for him. He noticed she was shivering; he grabbed a blanket from the shelf by the door before joining her on the lounger and pulling the blanket over them. As soon as he sat down next to her she curled herself up, her head resting on his chest, her body pushed as close to him as she could get. Danny put his arms around her and for a time neither said anything, then he pulled back slightly and giving her a mock severe look, let his eyes drop to look at the sweatshirt. He lent forward again so that his mouth was next to her ear and murmured softly 'Don't think I haven't noticed that you've still got my sweatshirt, thief…'

_Flashback – 10:20pm Friday 26 April 2002_

_The rain was thundering against the windows of his apartment as Danny checked his watch again; Caitlin was supposed to have finished her shift at 2pm but she had rung to tell him that she had agreed to cover the first 2 hours of a colleagues shift. Then there had been another phone call to tell him that there had been a pile up on the expressway and that she was on her way to attend the scene. He knew it was the first time she had been sent to attend the scene of a major accident and he guessed she was likely to be late. He had put the news on when he got home, the pile up had made it to the top story and Danny had watched the images of burning cars, body bags and blood covered crash victims being loaded onto ambulances. He thought that he had caught sight of Caitlin in one shot but couldn't be sure. She had called again 30 minutes ago to tell him she was on her way to his apartment. He had thought she sounded strange……_

_He heard the key in the door and turned; she was standing in the doorway soaking wet and still in her scrubs which surprised him; she never wore her scrubs outside of the ER. But more than that was the look on her face._

'_Hey, you OK' he had never seen that look on her face before; her eyes looked empty…._

_She closed the door and without looking at him she shook her head. He walked across the room to her side. She didn't meet his eyes and put her hands up to stop him from hugging her_

'_I'm soaked, you'll get wet'_

_Danny could see she was shivering and he suspected that it was from more than the rain. He ignored her raised hands and pulled her into a hug 'I'm not bothered about a bit of rain………'_

_For a moment she seemed to resist then she collapsed against him. He stroked her hair murmuring softly to her until she stopped shaking. He looked down at her but she still had her head resting against his chest. He slipped his finger under her chin and gently raised it so that she was looking at him………he smiled at her_

'_Why don't you take a shower, it will help you warm up and I'll dig out some dry clothes for you'_

_Caitlin emerged from the shower, wrapped herself in the large towel Danny had given her and wandered out into the bedroom; on the bed were a pair of his jogging bottoms and his Mets sweatshirt………for the first time in hours she smiled………………….he must be worried if he was letting her wear his Mets sweatshirt; the jogging bottoms were way too big and who needed them anyway………………_

_Danny turned when he heard her emerge from the bedroom and found his mouth go dry….she was dressed in his sweatshirt……and, from what he could see anyway, nothing else. 'Remember, she's upset, remember, she's upset' Danny kept this mantra running silently through his head because seeing her dressed like that was disturbingly erotic………………._

'_Feeling a bit better?'_

_She smiled and nodded, coming over and sliding her arms around his waist. She leant up and kissed him softly on his lips as Danny slide his arms around her. 'Thank you'_

_He smiled 'Do you want to talk about it?_

_She regarded him steadily 'No, not now, it was just a really bad day and I don't want to think about it now I'm home, if that's OK with you?'_

'_That's absolutely fine'_

_She tilted her head and he lowered his lips to hers; the kiss was soft, gentle, comforting, his hands stroking, soothing. He felt her cling to him and then her hands slid under his T shirt and her kiss became more demanding. He picked her up and carried her to the bedroom, he kept the same steady, comforting rhythm as he caressed her body and made love to her. _

_After, as she lay curled in his arms she heard him whisper her name. She turned so that she lay facing him and gently stroked his face. He leant in and kissed her, 'I love you'_

_It was the first time he had said those words, and she felt a warm glow envelop her. She smiled at him and whispered 'I know'_

_His eyebrows shot up and she laughed softly 'You let me use your Met's sweatshirt, that's major league Taylor'_

_He grinned 'It looks pretty good on you,' he kissed her before adding with a wicked look in his eye 'and even better on the floor''_

_She slid her arms around his neck and whispered 'I love you'_

_She saw him smile and then he kissed her again…._

_End of Flashback_

'Hmm, sorry about that, you must have left it at my bedsit and when Lisa packed my things up and sent them to me in San Francisco the sweatshirt came too.'

Danny's arms tightened around her; 'I'm surprised you didn't burn it', he sounded slightly bitter, she glanced at him quickly but he was staring off into the darkness

'Well I admit I nearly gave it to the goodwill but……..' her voice trailed off and she felt him move and knew he was looking at her; she moved her head slightly so she could meet his eyes before continuing, 'I have good memories of this sweatshirt.'

He didn't say anything for a while and the look in his eyes became distant then suddenly he focused again, 'what happens after……….' he swallowed, not knowing the words to use, not wanting to tempt fate

She met his gaze steadily, 'Well, I guess we figure out how to be a family, in whatever form that takes, for Molly'

He frowned 'What do you mean 'in whatever form that takes'?' He sounded wary, almost hurt……

Her mind seemed to run into a brick wall as she tried to read his expression; she desperately wanted to know if he was feeling what she was, that somehow, despite four years apart, despite the hurt they both felt; that it still felt so right, as if they could just pick up where they left off, as if they could be together………….For a second she thought about not answering, about making an excuse and telling him they should wait until Molly was back, was safe...she felt as if, for the second time that day, she was somehow disconnected from her body, that she was watching herself………

'I guess I mean that we need to figure out what we want but I suppose to do that one of us has to start, so, I want you to be part of Molly's life……………..' she hesitated and then speaking rapidly before her courage failed her, 'and I want you to be part of my life too'

Danny felt her go rigid in his arms as the words came tumbling out of her mouth, as if she was expecting him to push her away. He realised he had been holding his breath since he had heard her say those words, 'in whatever form it takes', and slowly exhaled, a feeling of relief flooding him. He had been so sure she was trying to let him know that there was no chance for the two of them, that he could be Molly's father but nothing more and Danny had been certain, since they had spoken in his apartment, that he wanted a lot more.

He slid down the lounger slightly so that their heads were level with each other; her eyes met his and he could see that she was scared. He tried to find the words to tell her how he was feeling but couldn't; instead he cradled her face in his hands and kissed her. He felt her respond, felt her arms come around his neck, felt her body pressed against his. He broke the kiss but pulled her to him, holding her as tightly as he could.

For a long time they just held each other, not speaking, then he pulled back slightly and looked at her; 'We still need to talk about what happened don't we?'

She sighed slightly, 'I guess it would be better to sort it out sooner rather than let it fester and have to sort it out later but lets just agree that until we get the time to talk about it properly we just put it behind us and focus on being you, me and Molly'

Danny kissed her gently, 'Deal'………………..he paused for a moment then in an effort to lighten the mood slightly, 'but I still want my sweatshirt back'

Caitlin was laughing 'You'll have to fight your daughter for it, and my money is on her', she saw the confused look on Danny's face, 'its sort of her comfort blanket'

Danny shook his head slightly trying to figure out how his Met's sweatshirt was his daughter's comfort blanket, but couldn't; 'I don't understand'

'Well, ever since she was a baby I've always told her about you and she has a photo of you that stays in her room. A few months ago she wanted to know why she didn't see you so I told her that your work meant that you couldn't see her but that she would see you one day and until then, if she wanted to have a cuddle from you all she had to do was cuddle the sweatshirt.' She looked up at him and saw that he was close to tears; 'she trails around in it sometimes all day and she talks about you all the time…………..'

Danny was struggling to keep his emotions in check; he had spent the last few hours wondering how Molly would react to having some stranger come into her life and declaring that he was her father; he had never imagined that Caitlin would have told Molly anything about him………'So she knows about me………….'

Caitlin wriggled away from him and lent over to one side and grabbed her bag; she hunted inside for a moment and then produced a small photo album. She turned back to Danny, 'here, have a look'

Danny opened the album. The first photo was of Molly as a tiny baby; 'She's 2 hours old there and apparently none the worse for the 36 hours of hell I went through'

Danny looked at Caitlin '36 hours……..?'

'Hmm, your daughter takes even longer than you do to get ready'

Danny grinned, she had always pulled his leg about that, wanting to know how it took her only half the time he took to get ready to go out; 'karma, for the hard time you used to give me just because I wanted to make sure I looked good for you'; he laughed as he heard the 'pah' sound she made in reply.

He turned the page; more photo's of Molly followed, each showing her at a slightly older age than the one before until he turned to the last one; there was Molly, sat on a sofa, laughing at the camera, completely swamped by the Met's sweatshirt…………he reached a finger out, almost believing he could touch her……….he looked at Caitlin. She wasn't looking at the photo's she was looking at him

'Danny,' it sounded as if her heart was breaking, 'tell me she'll be OK'

He held her tightly and kissed the top of her head as he replied 'She'll be OK'; he didn't want her to see his face; he didn't want her to know how scared he was.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Jack arrived at the lodge after briefing the SWAT team to find Sam and Martin dozing in the living room, Sam on the sofa and Martin in a chair. They both woke up as he came in;

'Anything?' Sam wasn't expecting the answer to be yes but couldn't help but ask anyway

'No, no movement in the Lodge, looks like they are both asleep. Where's Caitlin, I need to ask her some questions about Molly?'

Sam and Martin glanced at each other before Sam faced Jack 'Well, Caitlin went to sit on the decking and Danny went to join her and that was over an hour ago' Sam shrugged her shoulders, 'I thought it was best to leave them, they must have a lot to talk about'

Jack nodded and checked his watch, 'Look its 2:35am. We could all do with some sleep. I'll go and see if they're OK'

Jack walked into the bedroom; the door to the decking was open and he approached cautiously, not wanting to disturb them if they were talking. He looked through the door and could see them curled up on the lounger together; he could see Danny's hand stroking Caitlin's hair but couldn't tell if she was awake or asleep; he decided to leave them…………

He went back into the living room; 'Sam, why don't you take the couch, Martin and I can take a chair each and we can all try and get some rest, I think we are probably going to need it………….


	15. Waiting

**Northwood Lodges Hotel – 05:55am**

Caitlin slowly opened her eyes and for a moment she was disorientated, not sure where she was, then everything came rushing back to her; Molly being snatched and Danny…………something warm and heavy was lying across her and she realised it was his arm. She lay still for a moment enjoying the feeling of being in his arms, listening to him breathing………..and realised he was awake. She turned onto her back and could see him watching her;

He smiled 'Morning beautiful'

She felt a lump in her throat as she was reminded of all the times they had woken up together in the past. She turned so she was facing him and he traced her jaw line with his index finger before kissing her softly. 'You OK?'

'Mmmmm, I must have fallen asleep, what about you, did you get any sleep?'

'Yeh, I dozed off for an hour or so'

'Danny, I'm scared'

He pulled her to him and held her; 'I know, I'm scared too'

A noise made them both look up and they saw Sam standing at the doorway holding cups of coffee. She smiled 'Hi, thought you could both do with some coffee'

Danny sat up, swung his legs over the side of the lounger and rubbed his eyes before taking the mugs from her. 'Thanks, I think we both need this' he glanced behind her into the bedroom, 'Where's Jack?'

'He's in the living room,' she switched her gaze from Danny to Caitlin, 'he really needs to talk to you, he wants to ask you some questions about Molly'

Danny stood up and held a hand out to Caitlin who took it and let him pull her to her feet. She slipped her sneakers on, then picking up the mug of coffee, followed Sam through to the living room where Jack and Martin were waiting.

Jack looked up as Sam, Caitlin and Danny came into the room; 'Morning, how are you feeling?'

'OK I guess,' she sat down on the sofa next to Danny, 'Sam said you needed to ask me some questions about Molly'

Jack felt a slight twist in his gut, he had been dreading this ever since he had interviewed the Hotel Manager last night.

'Yes, I do,' he paused trying to find a way of asking the question without upsetting her and quickly realising he couldn't; he could see the expression on Danny's face change as he realised that something was wrong. Jack took a breath then continued

'How does Molly behave when she is tired?' he watched her face and saw a look of confusion appear

'I'm not sure what you mean?' Caitlin spoke slowly, looking at Danny for a clue but saw he was confused as well

'Well, you know, some kids just zone out when they are tired, others get louder and hyperactive; I wondered how Molly is when she is tired.'

Caitlin looked at him for a moment and he knew she was on the edge of asking why he needed to know, but seemed to change her mind; 'I assume you mean tired after a long car journey' her gaze was steady although he could see she was gripping Danny's hand very tightly

'Yes'

She took a steadying breath, 'OK, well if I'd done that drive with Molly she would have been desperate to get out of the car and she would have wanted to explore everywhere. She would have been a devil to get to bed as well'; she stared intently at Jack 'why?'

Jack looked at her for a moment, his face showing an emotion that was hard to pin down; 'I interviewed the Hotel Manager yesterday after Danny and Martin came back to the lodge. He told me that he had been in the lobby when Rachel and Molly arrived. He said Molly stayed in her car seat when Rachel checked in and appeared to be sleeping. The porter who helped her carry her luggage in from the car to their Lodge told me that although Molly woke up when Rachel carried her inside, she was, as he described it, 'floppy and docile'. They both thought she looked as if she was very tired'

He knew Caitlin understood straight away; the look of agony on her face told him that;

'That bitch' she was struggling to remain calm,

Danny was staring at her, 'What? What's he talking about?'

She turned to look at him and he could see tears forming in her eyes 'She's drugged her'

Jack watched the horrified look on Danny's face 'How do you know?'

'When Molly sleeps she sleeps like the dead, but not at that time of the day and certainly not after a long car journey; the moment you turn the engine off she's wide awake and raring to go, no way would she sleep through an arrival at a hotel and being carried out of the car, no way' Caitlin was adamant.

Jack nodded, 'It's what I thought. I've contacted the local hospital, an ambulance plus a Doctor are on their way and will be here when we take Molly back. I've told them I thought that she may have been drugged and they have promised to bring everything they need to treat her.'

'Why would she drug her?' Sam regretted asking the question the moment the words left her mouth and she saw the annoyed look Jack threw her

'My guess would be that although Molly was OK with her in the park I'm betting that it didn't take long before she started wanting to know where she was going and where I was and she can make a lot of noise when she want's to. I bet Rachel was worried that someone would get suspicious so I think she probably gave her something to sedate her'

Jack looked thoughtful, 'So you think she was probably sedated not long after she left the park'

Caitlin shrugged helplessly 'It is only a guess, but yes. Also, If she knew how long the journey was going to be she could have given her enough so that she could get up here before Molly really started to wake up'

'OK, but we know that Molly hasn't made a sound all night and appears to have slept….'

He saw Caitlin bite her lip and glance at Danny 'That's what worries me; she probably administered more sedative when they got here so she would sleep'

'And that's dangerous?' Martin could tell from Caitlin's face that she was really scared

'Sedatives are cumulative,' she saw the confusion on his face, 'in other words to keep someone sedated you need to administer the next dose before the first has worn off. This means that there is still sedative in the patients system which means that you don't need as much for the second dose as you did the first to achieve the same effect. It also means that even when you think the sedative has worn off you can't drive a car for example for another 48 hours because traces remain in your blood and can react with other medications to make you drowsy again.'

She was gripping Danny's hand so tightly that her knuckles were white 'With children, because they are so small even a slight overdose can be dangerous and can cause them to stop breathing.'

Jack stood up 'Right we need to get her out before she administers another dose then don't we?'

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

**Northwood Lodges Hotel – 06:45am**

Danny stood watching his colleagues working in the back of the truck, parked out of sight of the lodge that Rachel and Molly were staying in. Jack had arranged for listening devices to be placed next to the windows the previous night and that so far there had been no sounds to indicate that Rachel or Molly had woken up.

Jack, Sam and Martin all had earphones clamped to their ears listening for any noise at all that would tell them what was happening inside the lodge. Danny shifted his weight from one foot to the other and back again; the frustration he was feeling was unbearable. He wanted to do something, anything but he couldn't. He turned his head as he caught a slight movement in the corner of his eye to see Caitlin arrive back at his side.

'OK?'

'Yes, they've sent a paediatric specialist so he knows better than me what to do if………' she bit her lip and Danny hugged her tightly to him.

She lifted her head and looked over at the van and Jack, Martin and Sam; 'Nothing from the lodge yet?'

'No, not yet'

He glanced down at her and caught her eye 'The waiting is the hardest part'

She shook her head 'I don't know how you do it day in, day out, I couldn't'

A movement caught both their attention; Jack appeared to be listening intently to something he was hearing on his headphones and then turned to Sam, seemingly sending her over to Danny and Caitlin.

Sam put down her earphones and headed over at a run

'Rachel is awake and we've heard sounds that are definitely Molly but she sounds very drowsy,' Sam looked at Danny, 'Rachel has just been asking Molly if she would like to speak to her Daddy today, we think she's going to call you. Jack wants you over in the van.'

Danny glanced at Caitlin 'You'll be OK?'

She nodded; Sam indicated that Danny should go 'It's OK, I'll stay with Caitlin'

Danny threw Sam a grateful look and headed for the van. He climbed inside, already feeling better, as if he could actually do something to help rather than stand around uselessly. Jack was still listening and paid no attention to Danny but Martin handed him the set of headphones that Sam had been using.

He leaned toward Danny and spoke in a low voice; 'She appears to be hunting for her address book or something, we think she is going to make the call soon'

'Why would she call me? I mean she's been hiding her tracks pretty well until now, surely she realises that as soon as she calls we are going to know where she and Molly are.'

Jack looked up 'It's getting to the point where she is having a harder and harder job distinguishing reality from fantasy. Now she has Molly she is convinced that Molly really is her daughter and that the two of you are a couple and so she's not thinking about hiding her tracks because in her mind she doesn't have to.'

He listened to the sounds of someone walking around the Lodge and then he heard a sound that froze his blood; he saw Martin and Jack also go rigid and exchange glances,

'That sounds like she was loading a gun' Martin sounded horrified

Danny kept listening, fighting down the feeling of panic that was sending his pulse racing, trying to hear any signs of Molly; he heard a slight whimper and then heard Rachel speak,

'Oh you're finally waking up are you sleepy head. Well I'll call and get us some breakfast and then you need your medicine again'

Danny heard a slight sigh of relief from Jack

'Well that at least tells us that she hasn't given Molly another sedative yet

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Sam watched as Caitlin paced up and down, throwing frequent glances toward where she could see Jack, Martin and Danny in the van. A young waiter from the hotel approached 'Excuse me ma'am, I have some coffee and pastries for you'

Sam all of a sudden felt her stomach rumble and realised that she hadn't eaten much since all of this had started yesterday. She thanked the waiter and pouring some coffee into a mug and grabbing a pastry headed over to Caitlin

'Here,' she could see that she was about to refuse so continued 'you wont be any good to Molly if you're passing out because you haven't eaten in 18 hours' she saw Caitlin pause for a moment then nod

'Thanks' she took the pastry and the coffee and perched on the wall. Sam grabbed herself a coffee and a pastry and sat next to her.

They sat in silence for a while, then Caitlin spoke 'Danny used to talk about you and Viv and Jack a lot,' she smiled sadly, 'I wish the circumstances were different but it's nice to be able to put faces to names'

Sam smiled not knowing what to say since Danny had never mentioned Caitlin, but before she had to say anything she heard a soft chuckle 'It's OK Sam, I know he didn't say anything about me'

Sam smiled 'Well Danny always has been closed mouthed about anything outside work'

Caitlin nodded, her face had a wry look on it 'Well, I understand better than most not wanting to talk about the past,' she looked sideways at Sam, 'I understand you had the dubious pleasure of meeting my father'

Sam smiled cautiously at her 'Yeh, can't say I saw much of a family resemblance'

'Hmm, well if you look at photos of my mother then you can see I take after her,' she paused and met Sam's eyes before adding, 'thank god'

Sam raised an eyebrow sympathetically and nodded, 'You and Danny seem as if you have sorted out your issues' as she said the words Sam could have kicked herself; she opened her mouth to apologise

'I don't think we have sorted the issues out I think we have both just agreed to ignore them until Molly is back and safe.' Caitlin's voice broke slightly but she smiled at Sam, 'I don't really understand it to be honest but it sort of feels as if the last four years haven't happened, I mean, I've always said I would never go back to a failed relationship but…………….' She shrugged her shoulders 'I just know that I'll never feel like this about anyone else so there isn't really a decision to be made'

Sam nodded thoughtfully 'Yeh, I know what you mean' her eyes strayed to where she could see Jack, Martin and Danny, 'sometimes you just have to go for it and damn the consequences don't you?'

She turned back and saw Caitlin looking at her thoughtfully. For a moment Sam thought she was going to ask a question but instead she smiled 'Well I know that I would far rather take a chance and get it wrong than spend the rest of my life wondering what would have happened if I had taken the chance'

Sam stared at her for a moment then turned and stared at the van again………………

She stood up and knew Caitlin had stood up next to her as they saw Danny leave the van rapidly, lean one hand against it and throw up………………..

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Danny could feel the frustration growing as he listened to Rachel moving around the Lodge, humming softly to herself

'What if she decides to shower before they take the breakfast in; could we go in then?' Martin sounded as frustrated as Danny felt

Jack nodded, 'Well that would be an option as long as we are sure that Molly isn't in the bathroom with her'

'Oh there it is', they heard Rachel laugh, 'you'd think I would know Daddy's cell phone number wouldn't you' they heard the sound of pages turning. Jack looked at Danny

'You ready for this?'

Danny nodded and took a deep breath, staring at his cell phone; he heard the sound of a phone being picked up and a few seconds later his cell rang.

Danny let it ring twice, then taking a deep breath, 'Taylor'

'Hey sweetheart it's me', she sounded happy, relaxed, as if she was speaking to her boyfriend. Danny felt his gut twist but somehow managed to keep his voice calm

'Hey, I was wondering when you would call'

She giggled, setting Danny's teeth on edge. He saw Martin shift in his seat and knew he hated this too. 'Well, by the time we got here last night Molly was really tired so we both just went to bed but we're missing you; I've told Molly that you will be here soon.'

Danny took a deep breath and saw Jack push a note toward him

_See if you can speak to Molly_

'Yeh it's a long drive isn't it. Is Molly awake, can I say hi to her?' Danny kept his voice calm, even, relaxed and felt Jack's hand on his arm, offering silent support.

'She's not really awake yet'

Danny looked at Jack, took another deep breath 'OK well don't wake her up she's probably tired after that drive yesterday'

He heard her giggle again 'So what time do you think you will get here'

'Well after I got your email yesterday I spoke to my boss and he's given me some time off so I set off last night and stopped on the way, I'm about 20 minutes away from you,' he managed to laugh, 'I was planning on surprising you both but I guess that's not going to happen now is it?'

She laughed happily 'Oh baby I'm sorry but I'll order some breakfast to be delivered after you get here and then we can decide what we are going to do today'

'OK, well, I'd better get going if I'm going to be there in 20 minutes'

'Bye sweetheart, I love you'

Danny saw the horrified look on Martin's face and felt Jack's hand arm tighten involuntarily on his arm. He closed his eyes and imagined Caitlin stood in front of him;

'I love you too, see you soon'; he hung up. Without looking at Martin and Jack he hurled himself out of the van, grabbed hold of the side and threw up.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Jack watched as Danny gulped in air trying to calm his stomach. Jack thrust a bottle of water into his hand and saw Danny nod his head in thanks, seemingly unable to speak.

'Danny, you did what needed doing, you've got us in the best possible position to get Molly out safely', he saw the look of self loathing that crossed Danny's face and clapped him on his back; 'I know it's hard but you did the right thing'

He turned and saw Martin talking to Caitlin who had obviously been handed a hell of a shock when she had seen Danny throw up like that. She was looking over at Danny, clearly concerned and wanting to come over to see him. Jack saw the question on Martin's face and indicated that he should let Caitlin come over.

She headed for Danny; Jack saw her put her arms around him and hug him tightly and Danny return the hug, he went to speak to Martin and Sam;

'Right, I think this is the best possible way of getting Molly out safely,' he checked his watch, 'we have 10 minutes before Rachel is going to expect Danny to arrive.'

'Do you think Danny is going to be OK? I mean is he going to be able to stay calm long enough for this to work, because if he loses it or lets Rachel see what he really thinks……….' Sam's voice trailed away and she stared worriedly at Jack

'I think he'll be fine, Danny is more motivated than any of us to get this concluded………..'

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Danny took a deep breath as he climbed out of the car and walked toward the Lodge. Jack had just confirmed that Molly did not appear to be awake properly yet; Danny hoped this was the case as it would make the whole thing a lot easier……….

He reached the door and knocked…………..he could hear Rachel through the door, 'Molly, Molllleee; Daddy's here'.

Danny could feel a roaring in his ears and felt a rage taking hold of him….he heard Jack in his ear 'Remember, stay calm, we want Molly safe'. He could hear Rachel approach the door and he took a deep breath in an attempt to get himself under control;

She opened the door, her face alight with happiness but rather than greet him on the doorstep she stepped back into the room 'come in, come in, Molly's so excited that you are here'; Danny stepped into the room……………

Rachel was beaming at him; he forced himself to smile hoping that she would come closer but instead she was backing away from him toward the bedroom; 'Come and see Molly...';

He forced himself to keep smiling and crossed the floor to the bedroom door; Rachel had rushed to the bed and was bending over Molly. She straightened up, and Danny could see she had picked Molly up and was cuddling her; he felt the anger grip him like a vice and had to fight to keep his face relaxed.

He saw her frown, 'I don't understand why she won't wake up' she stuck her bottom lip out, pouting like a child who had been denied a treat

Danny was fighting hard to stay calm and in control; all he wanted to do was grab Molly and head for the door. He managed to keep an easy smile on his lips and held his arms out, 'here, give her to me she's probably just exhausted after the drive yesterday'

For a moment he thought that Rachel was going to hand her to him then she frowned again and looked at him, a hint of suspicion on her eyes. Danny made himself imagine it was Caitlin stood in front of him; he smiled warmly at Rachel; 'you know you haven't even said hello properly', he managed to put a hurt look on his face.

The suspicion faded from her eyes and she beamed at him again. She lay Molly down on the bed again and advanced to where Danny was standing. She slid her arms around his waist and raised her face to be kissed….

'Go, go, go'

Danny grabbed Rachel's arms and twisted her around so he held them behind her back. She shrieked and struggled trying to get free, her face now twisted into an expression of hatred. Danny heard the door to the Lodge burst open and felt Sam and Martin grab Rachel from him...

Danny left Rachel without a backward glance and ran to the bed where Molly lay, unconscious………


	16. Moving On

**Danny's Apartment – Two Days Later**

Danny sat on the side of the bed, taking in the familiar surroundings of his bedroom, scarcely able to comprehend the seismic shift that had occurred in his life over the last three days…………

……_..she's not breathing, get me a chest tube……………………_

He'd never seen anything like it, the scalpel cutting into her chest, the tube being inserted and then watching as she had started breathing again……………..and Caitlin, so calm, so in control; he didn't think he could have done it; didn't think he could have saved the life of the woman who had kidnapped his daughter, but she had…………….

He still remembered the scream when Rachel had somehow pulled herself free of Martin and Sam so violently that she had crashed onto the small fence outside the Lodge; he didn't think he would ever forget the horrible sounds of her gasping for breath after her broken rib punctured her lung………….

He didn't know how Caitlin had managed to stay so calm when she had been so worried about Molly………

'Daddy, are you ready yet?'

Danny turned and saw his daughter standing in the door with a frown on her face and her hands on her hips; a smile spread across his face; he held his arms out to her and she threw herself into them, giggling as he tickled her;

'Stop Daddy, stop'; he kissed her and she snuggled into his arms, her head on his shoulder and Danny marvelled again at how much he could love this child that he hadn't even known existed three days ago.

She wriggled in his arms and sat up staring at him, a serious look on her baby face; 'Are you ready yet, Mommy said you always take a long time to get ready'

'Mommy did, did she?'

'Hmmm, Mommy did'

Danny looked up and saw Caitlin stood at the door of the bedroom, a smile on her face as she took in the sight of Molly and Danny…………..

Danny threw her a smug look and then whispered into Molly's ear 'I think Mommy is cross with me'

Molly threw her arms around his neck, giggling; 'Don't worry Daddy, I won't let Mommy tell you off'

Danny could see Caitlin roll her eyes and clutch her head in mock horror 'Oh no, I can't cope if the two of you are going to gang up on me'

Molly was giggling uncontrollably now. Danny picked her up and settling her on his left hip walked over to Caitlin

'So, _are_ you ready? She raised her eyebrow, a mock severe look on her face.

Danny slid his right arm around her waist and pulled her to him; he kissed her briefly on the lips and grinned; 'I am _so_ ready'

Their eyes met for a moment and he hoped she understood the double meaning behind his words…..

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

**Caitlin's Apartment **

Danny carried the cases into the apartment and dropped them next to the front door, unsure whether he should take them through to Caitlin's room or whether he should put them in the guest room. He thought about asking Caitlin but wasn't really sure _how_ to ask the question without making the events of the previous night an issue…………………….

Caitlin had headed for the kitchen to make the lunch; one thing Danny was learning quickly was that three year olds, well, Molly, had very set views on when she should eat, and that time was rapidly approaching.

He stood at the kitchen door watching Caitlin pull together the lunch of sandwiches and fruit, his mind replaying the moments after Martin and Sam had grabbed Rachel off him and he had seen how very still Molly was; those minutes, until the paediatrician had told them that Molly would be fine once the sedative had worn off, were honestly amongst the worst of his life.

They had taken her to the local hospital and it had been early afternoon before she was properly awake……………..very confused because she was nowhere she knew but other than that absolutely fine because she didn't remember a thing about what had happened.

Danny smiled to himself as he remembered Molly's face when she had seen him. She had known who he was; he knew the memory of how it had felt to hold her in his arms for the first time would be one that stayed with him for the rest of his life. He had never understood when Jack and Viv talked about how the love you feel for your child is different from any other type of love but he did now; that he could feel like this when three days ago he hadn't even known she existed shocked him to his core but he loved it; he knew he had a soppy smile on his face every time she called him Daddy and he didn't care.

They had kept Molly in hospital overnight and he and Caitlin, both exhausted, had crashed out on the sofa bed in her room. Fortunately Molly had slept from 10pm until 6am the next morning, and for the second night they had slept curled up together.

They had travelled back the next day, arriving in New York in the late afternoon. Danny had taken them back to Caitlin's apartment, slightly stunned when he saw it knowing how much it must have cost, and Molly hadn't wanted him to go, and Caitlin had seemed perfectly happy to have him there………………..

She had put Molly to bed later than normal and then it had just been the two of them; they had sat curled up together on the sofa, the atmosphere thick with sexual tension which Danny, for once, was at a loss to know how to deal with, and that ended up being the problem. He hadn't wanted to push her too far, unsure if she was ready to go beyond the cuddling and the kissing yet, and also not certain whether it was OK to make out on the sofa when Molly could get out of bed and walk in on them at any minute, but it seemed that she had taken that to mean that he didn't want her.

In the end she had announced she was going to bed and shown him pointedly to the guest room where Danny had laid awake for most of the night wanting desperately to go to her but terrified of getting it wrong…………….In the morning he had been up first, even ahead of Molly and had been in the kitchen getting himself some juice when he had heard Molly launch herself into Caitlin's room and then heard her demand to know where he was.

He had wandered in before Caitlin had had time to explain anything with juice for both of them and then the three of them had camped on the bed for a while. Danny had enjoyed that, messing about, a play pillow fight, him tickling Molly until she had demanded that he 'tickle Mommy' which Danny had decided was a challenge and so he had until he had to stop because it left him hot and bothered in a way he didn't think was appropriate for Molly to see. He had known that Caitlin felt it too and was left even more confused.

Then, over breakfast, Molly had wanted to know if 'Daddy lives with us now' and Caitlin had shot him a look under hooded eyes and replied 'Ask your father', which Danny thought was unfair, what was he supposed to say to that? And Molly had looked at him with those big brown eyes and said please, pleeeeease Daddy and he hadn't known what to say and Caitlin hadn't helped at all until she had obviously seen the pleading in his eyes and then she had suggested that 'Daddy could stay with us for a bit and we can see how we all like it' and so here he was, totally besotted with his daughter, finding that he rather liked family life, hopelessly in love with Caitlin again and without a clue as to how to sort out what had happened last night…………..

They sat and ate lunch and then, while they were clearing the dishes away someone knocked on the door. Danny could hear voices in the hallway and recognised them; his heart plummeted;... like he really wanted to see Nick Hollander at the moment………………

He emerged from the kitchen and saw that Nick was looking as thrilled as he was about them meeting; he saw Nick hold a hand out to him and Danny shook it briefly before turning to Jayne; she ignored the tension and kissed on the cheek which caught him by surprise but he managed to cover (he hoped) and kiss her back..

Caitlin had called to Molly who came running to greet them and Danny had to endure the agony of Molly cuddling 'Uncle Nick'; he didn't think that he had ever felt so jealous of anyone, ever. Then the reason for the visit emerged; Molly was going to be the flower girl at Nick and Jayne's wedding in four weeks time and she had a dress fitting that afternoon. Danny glanced at Caitlin, wondering if she would be happy letting Molly out of her sight, and realising that he wasn't wild about the idea……………….he wondered if she was planning on going as well. If she was he doubted he was invited and he certainly wasn't going if it meant he had to 'hang out' with Nick Hollander…….

Caitlin and Jayne were stood a little bit away from them and then he saw Caitlin nod her head and Jayne was smiling; 'Molly, you need to go and get your sun hat. You're going to get your dress fitted with Uncle Nick and Aunty Jayne and then they are taking you to get pizza for tea'

Molly beamed and wriggled out of Nick's arms but then stopped 'Are you and Daddy coming too?'

Caitlin crouched down and smiled 'No honey, Daddy and I have some things to do but when you get back we can have chocolate ice cream and Daddy will read you your story tonight'

Molly looked thoughtful then grinned and held her arms up to Danny who quickly picked her up; 'I want a long story Daddy'; Danny grinned, he would happily read her War and Peace to get just one of her smiles

'You can have any story you want sweetheart, lets go and find your sun hat'; he escaped into Molly's bedroom and they spent a couple of minutes looking for her sun hat with Danny making her laugh by pretending to look in ridiculous places for it.

Sun hat found, he carried her back to the door and received a huge hug and a kiss from her before she took Jayne's hand ready to go and get her dress fitted. He deliberately didn't look at Nick and was relieved when the door closed.

He turned to head back to the kitchen to finish clearing away the dishes from lunch

'Where are you going?'; Danny stopped and cautiously turned around to see Caitlin still stood in the hall, her arms crossed and an unreadable expression on her face.

'Urm, I was going to finish the dishes……….' He stopped at the look on her face

'They'll keep'

'Right…………..so, what do you want me to do?' he was feeling his way cautiously

'I want you to put these suitcases away' there it was; the challenge in her voice, and he realised that this was her way of forcing the issue about last night...

He stared at her for a minute then picked up the cases; 'Sure, where do you want me to put them?'

The sudden flash of anger in her eyes shocked him; he couldn't think of many times she had ever been this angry with him…..well once a couple of months after they had met and the make up sex had been off the scale………………he forced himself to stop thinking about that and to focus on now……..he felt a small flame of anger start to take hold of him; he wasn't a bloody mind reader for gods sake; if he had done something wrong last night then he was sorry but it would help if she would tell him what he had, or hadn't done, that had pissed her off so much……….

The silence lengthened, both too stubborn to break it. He put the cases back down again and raised his eyebrows and saw fire crackle in her eyes as she launched herself at him, thumping him hard in the chest, her mouth a tight line………….

'Put the damn suitcases away'

Danny grabbed her forearms to stop her hitting him again, pulling her close, so that her body was pressed against his and lowered his face so it was inches from hers 'You still haven't told me where'; he kept his voice low but knew the anger was starting to show

He saw tears appear in her eyes but he couldn't decide whether they were tears because she was upset or because she was angry; 'I want _you_ to tell me where you want to put them'

And then he understood; he knew his face was showing the astonishment he was feeling and he saw the anger in hers;

'I told you what I wanted when we were at the hotel but you didn't say anything, all you did was kiss me, but you haven't _said_ anything about what you want from me and I need to _know…..'_

She stopped and then she looked at him, all the anger gone; 'Last night, I thought…….I don't know, maybe it was too soon after everything that has happened but …………..I don't know, it was like I was your sister or something……………..'

Danny laughed and she stared at him; 'My _sister,_ the last thing I think of you as is my _sister,_ Christ, I lay awake most of last night wanting you so badly it quite literally hurt..'; he saw her try to stop a grin forming at this but fail, he pulled her a little closer 'you think that's funny?'

'Hmm, I assume you believe that honesty is an important component in any relationship?' she had an innocent 'butter wouldn't melt' look on her face, he remembered that look……he looked at her suspiciously

'Yes'

'OK, well then if I am being _honest_ then yes, I do find that funny and I also think it serves you right'

'It serves me right?'

'Hmm, if you had just explained how you were feeling you wouldn't have had to 'suffer' last night, so, in the interests of saving you any further 'suffering' why don't you tell me what the hell the problem is?'

He groaned, released her arms and ran his hands through his hair in frustration; 'OK, I didn't know if you were ready to go beyond the cuddling and kissing thing we seemed to have going and I'm also not sure what the etiquette is for making out on the sofa when there is a three year old asleep down the hall' he looked at her and the expression of incredulity on her face and felt himself get annoyed again

'OK, so what is the etiquette?'

She shrugged her shoulders 'How the hell would I know?'

He stared at her 'What do you mean 'how the hell would I know', you've had three and a half years to work it out'

She stared at him blankly for a moment then a strange expression crossed her face and she looked away for a moment before looking back, 'Danny, the last time I had sex was with you, four years ago…….'

The silence grew and then he shook his head as he stared at her 'I….I don't know what to say, it didn't even cross my mind that you wouldn't have dated…………..'

She looked impatiently at him 'look, we can talk about that another time, are you saying you didn't think I wanted to sleep with you last night?'

'No, I'm saying I wasn't sure and I didn't want to mess everything up by pushing you when you weren't ready. I'm sorry if it seemed that I didn't want you because that is a million miles from being the case'

For a long moment they stared at each other then Caitlin looked at her watch; 'I reckon we have about 4 hours before Molly get's back,' she was looking at him in a way he remembered well and he felt his stomach tighten in anticipation.

Danny grinned and picked up the cases; 'I guess I'll just put these away' he turned and walked through the living room and into her, or was it now their, bedroom, and put them down. He turned around to see her standing behind him, and he reached for her, pulling her to him and kissing her in a way that he hoped would leave no doubt in her mind as to just how much he wanted her………..


	17. Epilogue

**One Year Later**

Danny leaned his back against the wall, thrust his hands in his pockets and watched as Martin paced nervously up and down

'Marty, relax.'

At the look Martin threw him he grinned 'Oh come on, it's not like you haven't done this before; it should be me getting all worked up'

Martin glared at him and then his face broke into a grin as he looked at his friend 'Yeh, you should be getting all worked up, so why aren't you?'

Danny shrugged carelessly 'after the year I've, well _we've_ had, this is a walk in the park my friend'

Martin nodded looking thoughtfully at Danny 'Well you've had just about everything thrown at the two of you and you've come through OK so I guess this would rate pretty low on the stress scale'

Danny grinned 'Nothing stressful about it, all I have to do is turn up, smile a lot and then get on a plane out of here for two weeks'

Martin was laughing now 'You forgot the bit where you vow to love honour and cherish til death do you part'

Danny shrugged his shoulders again, 'I don't have any problem with that, in fact, I can't wait,'

They both looked up as the minister appeared next to them smiling 'If you gentlemen would like to take your places………………..'

Martin checked his watch in surprise '5 minutes early?'

Danny was laughing, 'She's trying to catch me out, she bet me that she'd be on time and I'd be late'

'Looks like you won the bet then' Martin understood now why Danny had insisted that he wanted them both to be ready a good 30 minutes ahead of when they needed to be, he glanced curiously at his friend, 'and I take it from your expression that it's a bet worth winning'

Danny grinned, 'You don't really expect me to answer that question do you?'

They were both laughing as they took their places in front of the minister and the music started…….


End file.
